28-04-2022 10:44
The future of a city is governed by its historical heritage and the ambition of its inhabitants for further development! This is the guiding rule of thumb of the city of Pernik - the largest in southwestern Bulgaria after the capital, located only 30 km. from Sofia. This is the place where the new youth center will be built under the project “Establishment of Youth Center in Pernik - a model for high standards of youth work”, being the beneficiary the Municipality of Pernik. “Young people must be the active party in improving the living conditions of the local community and individual settlements”, said Lyubomira Miticheva -the first youth worker at the Youth Center Pernik at our meeting.
- Ms. Miticheva, First of all, allow me congratulate you on being the first to be selected for the position of "Youth Worker" of the future youth center in the town of Pernik. What was your motivation for applying for the position of "Youth Worker"? In fact, which one "weighed" the most and took precedence?
- Hello, thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed. In general, I've always been one of the more active people, one of those who really tried to make the place a little more pleasant to live in - whether it was youth activities or something different that I was involved with. Seeing the announcement that was published for the position of "youth worker", I said to myself that this is "mine". I saw everything I wanted to do, written on a piece of paper. The best thing is that I get equally the same feeling and desire to work, from my colleagues from the team recently formed.
-What did inspire you in your work so far and what would you like to achieve in working with the youth of Pernik?
- I was inspired by the moment when I saw that a young person was interested in the activities that will take place in our youth center. In fact, it turns out that many of the young people we've met so far really need a space for themselves. A place where they can express themselves, be able to receive support and be able to fullfill their free time as usefully and pleasantly as possible. I am also inspired by my colleagues, as I am fortunate to work in a very colorful team. There is so much color that I could not even imagine such people being able to gather in one place. There are volunteers who have been abroad, we also have a colleague who has been involved in youth work and volunteering for 10 years. Our educational mediator, who is of Roma origin, is an incredibly interesting and motivated young man who was a volunteer before and is now an amateur photographer. We are very different people, we all have different ideas, and the enthusiasm I see in them inspires me every day.
- What would you change in the community if you could?
- There is a need to have more information and to make it more accessible, because until today, young people did not have a place where to go and enquire, even an online space, where to understand what opportunities are offered to them. In Pernik, a Youth Strategy has been prepared, which is for a 10-year period and is expected to be adopted soon. One of the things embedded in it is the Unified Information Portal. Our goal is to show all young people in the area that there are activities in development, practically are taking place here for all who have the desire and want to participate in them.
- Is it difficult to reach young people nowadays? What do you think could motivate them?
- We think it will be a little difficult to reach all young people. Most easily we could reach the students, because they have working student councils, and there are a lot of active young people. Young people who neither work nor study, the so-called NEETs, are the most difficult group, but they are also the most urgent to connect and work with. Also, young people from vulnerable groups who are more encapsulated - this is also a big challenge. It is not easy for an outsider to join such a community, but we will also count on the support of local leaders, because in such communities there is always someone who is an authority who can set a good example and be heard. The approaches will be different and we will act according to the situation each time.
- What do you think are the three most important things that can make attractive the activities for young people that are to be developed and implemented under the project so as to provoke their interest and participation?
- The chance to meet your peers, both from the district and the country in which you live, and with foreigners is an extremely good opportunity for young people. In this way, they will be able to get acquainted not only with foreign cultures, but also with a way of life different from theirs. The opportunity to enrich and develop their knowledge and skills - on the one hand, acquired through vocational education, and on the other - acquired in the field of non-formal education and communication, is a very good basis for their further development both professionally and personally. This is our desire and we will work hard in this direction. And of course, something very important - to have fun. After all, we are talking about young people, and without this symbiosis, this sense of satisfaction and fun will not work for both sides.
- Would you seek support - on an informal basis, among your friends for the various activities and initiatives to be unveiled at the new youth center?
- I have already considered and conducted similar conversations. Some of the people I want to join together are young people enthusiasts in various fields who have decided to turn their backs on their current ways of life and career development and embark on something new, something that makes them happy. The example I can give is for a lady who left her administrative job and opened her own art studio in the town of Radomir, as there is a desire for the small town to develop in the field of art. Guests from different fields - journalism, photography and others would be very useful for young people, who they can tell about their experience and show their achievements in a more informal and accessible conversation.
- How do you see today's young people after 5 or 10 years?
- I see them more knowledgeable, more powerful and more confident, and I sincerely believe that it will be so. I wish they could raise their selfesteem a little more based on their knowledge and be able to show it to others. I want most of the people to want to stay in Bulgaria and develop here. I think we have the opportunity and being in the municipality of Pernik, I really want to say that after a survey last year, it turns out that many young people in Pernik support the development of the city, which they believe is moving forward.
- What do you think would change the attitudes of the youth community in the city after the completion of the project, as we have in mind after the construction of youth center will continue to operate in the future?
- Completion of the project will not be the end of the activities of the youth center, on the contrary. We hope that we will lay a great foundation for youth work by building the center, launching various activities, various interest clubs, international exchange, exchange with colleagues in the country, as the National Network of Youth Centers already consists of eight youth centers. We have invitations to visit some of them. Summer camps are organized - so we hope that the young people who start coming to us will pass on to the next generation the good things in which they took part. When the news is heard that something good is being done somewhere, one or two young people will come, followed by more and more. We also count on cooperating with other youth organizations. In addition, we are the only youth center on the territory of Southwestern Bulgaria, so our scope will be not only Pernik district, we can easily work in other districts. We hope that we will be able to develop the Southwest region as a very pleasant youth space.
- How do you think your work on the project would contribute to the success of the process of overall change in the community?
- I think my enthusiasm. As my colleagues joke with me, I am the eternal optimist. Answering a question like "No" can't happen, not to me. It has to be something totally impossible to say it can't happen. When we want to do something, we do our best to make it happen. I believe in the youths, I believe in my colleagues, I believe in our whole team. I strongly believe that because of the Programme Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Enhanced Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups through the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014 – 2021 we are able to contribute to the development of our municipality, the district and youth life in general.
- Your project partners are - Youth Organization Intermezzo Ungdomsorganisasjon, Norway and Vojvodina Environmental Movement, Serbia. How do you manage to interact with your partners and what good practices could you borrow from them?
- The project envisages visits, exchange of experience and training with colleagues from both organizations, which we expect to happen in the coming months. We rely a lot on their experience and we will see both the common and the different in working with young people. We believe that the Vojvodina Environmental Movement, Serbia, with its youth center, which has Council of Europe Quality Label, will be our wonderful partners and mentors. We are convinced that what we learn we will be able to transfer to us, so that one day we can receive the Council of Europe Quality Label.