Last week, we welcomed our French partners in Varna from the MFR Du Bergeracois. The week was about looking for new partnerships for several projects regarding culture, social work and trainees.

Patrick, Loïc, and Salomé from Bergerac were in Varna to meet musicians, social workers and active young people from local organisations and structures and establish partnerships for new projects.

They met a lot of people – the director of the Rock School of Varna, the directors of an orphanage for disabled children, social services and centres for people in a disadvantaged situation and even of a retirement home.

Salomé was working on the accreditation of the MFR for the European Solidarity Corps project. She was looking for more information and making research with the help of her tutor Irena.

The three of them were in Varna as a part of a program for an exchange of work experiences and culture between Bulgarian and French youngsters and professionals.

During these days, we went to some jam sessions and a funk concert. It was very interesting for all of us as a part of our search for partners for cultural projects. And, by the way, we visited the city of Varna and on Sunday we went on a cultural visit to Burgas and Nesebar.

Together with our French partners, we learned a lot this week and we have some new ideas for various projects in the near future.

Interview with Our French Partners

 

• Hello, can you introduce yourself with a few words – what’s your name, present your organization, what do you do?

Loïc: Hello, my name is Loïc and I’m a teacher at the MFR du Bergeracois in La Force. It’s a little city next to Bordeaux. I’m also responsible for the European project for my school.

Patrick: Hello, my name is Patrick aka Pilou, I take care of an organization whose name is Overlook since 1987. Also, I took the direction of the Rocksane around 15 years now. It’s a place about modern music where they are 5 main activities:

– The dissemination of music production;

– Concerts;

– A music school;

– Support for amateur and professional music groups;

– Cultural actions and production.

Salomé: Hi, I’m Salomé, I am 23 years old and I do my volunteering service at the MFR Du Bergeracois. It is a vocational high school specialized in european mobilities.

 

• Salomé, what do you do as a volunteer?

Salomé: So, at the MFR I work on the pole of European Mobilities. But I don’t have direct responsibilities, as I work with Loïc. I do the administrative job, create documents, partnerships and accompany on different projects. I also monitor the students when they go on their mobility.

 

• Why are you here in Varna?

Patrick: I came here to do a mobility and looking for an exchange. I follow the MFR who brought me here and was invited by the Association FOR YOU. They planned a lot of meetings for me so I can see the musical aspect of the city.

Salomé: I’m here in Varna because I am doing a short internship at the Association FOR YOU. I’m trying to understand how the EVS work to put an approach for the MFR.

Loïc: I’m using KA1 Erasmus + grant, which is a grant for professional of educational and vocational training. I realized a work placement in the Association For You because I wanted to understand more about this organization. And about what we can do together. Besides, I wanted to improve my relationship with the team also to develop our partnership with Association For You. In this way, we can create new projects together.

 

• Who did you meet?

Patrick: I’ve met a lot of people, the director of Cultural activities of the municipality, of course, several places like Hale 3 which is an alternative place, the Alliance Française, and Rockschool which is very interesting because I’m the director of Rockschool in France so it’s funny to find one here in Varna. I saw the activities and I also visit the Rubik Art and Music and one man from a Youth Center.

Loïc: I’ve met a lot of people, I’ve been in four institutions and associations in link with disabled people. I’ve also been in an orphanage and another place with disabled teenagers. Moreover, I visited an association for adult. It’s a daily centre. The last place I visited was a house for disabled women. Six women are living in this place with three professional social workers coming all day. Besides, I’ve been also in a home for elderly people. I have also visited accommodations places for students for when they come: hostels, hotels, flats. I’ve met people about cultural activities in Varna and I’ve met different music bands.

 

• Did you learn something or have some new idea for the future?

Patrick: First, I saw the legal aspect of working with music bands here. I met an agent to see how he was organizing with his bands. But also to look after places and the organization for a concert. Obviously, it’s very interesting for me to see a different way of working. And I have some idea about the exchange and new partners.

Salomé: Yes, I learned a lot, it’s a part of my tasks that I didn’t know and had never done before. I’ll take this at the MFR and spread my knowledge. I’ve been supported by Irena who helped me with the tasks. Elina also taught me how to develop and understand the aspect of the European Solidarity Corps. Now, I will bring everything to France!

Loïc: I want to develop a partnership with disabled people for many reasons. Firstly, it is because in my school we teach how to take care of disabled people. Moreover, we work with an important network of professional social workers. So, I want to develop a big project for the next few years. Nevertheless, this project will be in three times. The first will be a KA1 project. It will consist of sending French professionals for one week in Varna to exchange practices with local professionals. Another week will be professionals from Varna coming to my school, in France. This will enable them to teach the students how they work in Bulgaria. Additionally, it will allow them to discover and to meet French professional organizations. And the last part will be a work placement. The idea is to send students in Varna for 3 weeks.

This next project is in collaboration with Patrick, who is with me at this moment in Varna. He wants to develop activities linked to music between Varna and Bergerac. I also want to be part of this project, but I don’t know exactly how. We will need to think about it to figure it out.

Another project is with Salomé. She is also with us in Varna and is a volunteer in my school. We are currently building a project to host young Bulgarian people. This will enable them to volunteer in Bergerac, they can improve their French and self-confidence, participate in meetings. But also a lot of other things.

Finally, I want to develop another project with the MFR, an exchange of practices. The last one would be with the youth centre of Bergerac. But these two last projects I was talking about are just in my mind for the moment, and not concrete yet.

 

Perfect, a lot of new experiences and beautiful projects. Thank you very much, I hope you had fun time here and see you soon. 🙂