USE+FUL | Clubs and Organisations for youth

Our Participants Radost Deneva and Vanesa Husaini are members of various different youth clubs and organisations which help young people develop themselves and we are more than happy to share them with you as well.

Here is what they had to share:

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Radost Deneva

"As a student I am always curious about some things. How the world works, what is its purpose and how is a human life affected by it in any aspect. During the years in the high school I was taking part in lots of activities in order to get to know better a random sphere or field of information, thus, I gained pretty much knowledge on different topics, plus, the unforgettable experience in teamwork while the process. So in this article I am going to introduce to you several useful clubs and organizations that I participate in, which helped me to build my personality and boost my self-esteem as I had a hard time in that direction. To begin with, I really enjoyed the time spent in Interact club Varna. There for only two years I have learnt so much about leadership and humanity and ways to prevent negative events from happening. I was their coordinator and used to have responsibilities as a PR who manages meetings, special events, platforms in social media and etc.

Secondly, I would like to mention CISV and to thank all the astonishing people I met at the camps. They taught me to never loose energy and to stay positive no matter what is wrong. Those are things that cannot be learnt through listening to teachers and relatives or studying from notebooks. There are needed the right role models to show you the path. Furthermore, I was a scout. My job was to inform people about cultural and sport activities, placed in my home town. Also, we had projects related to preserving the nature surrounding us. I was strongly influenced and that focused me to choose my future career as a civil and environmental engineer. I am super grateful for the chance to be a part of these bodies because after all I got plenty of beneficial contacts that can support me when necessary. I recommend them to everybody! "

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Vanesa Husaini

"Two years ago, I felt like I didn’t use the most of my time properly, so I decided to contribute to a cause which can be beneficial for both the people around me and myself. I stumbled upon the charity event from Interact Club Varna and I immediately got attached to its cause, ambition and principles. I decided that this was what I was looking for. Mostly, what I found to be interesting were the open-minded people, who prefer to invest their time on projects that are multicultural and international understandings. Besides, what I find beneficial for me is the fact that I am able to help others. From next year I will take a more responsible role as a cashier for the collected funds from the non-profit events. During the annual vote procedure, I was selected as a successor of the previous responsible member for the above-mentioned role. Although it could be considered a small role, it is significant for the community inside Interact Club. Throughout my time in Interact I have decided to partake in several debates with other community members, in order to improve my communication skills my ability to stand for my ideas and beliefs."

USE+FUL | Being part of "Interact Club"

It was the start of this school year. The last bell ringed and I ran down the stairs when something cached my eye. It was a poster that said:

“Hello friends! To start the year, we at Interact Club Sofia-Balkan would like to invite you to our open meeting on September 27th / Thursday / 19:30h at the cinema.”

The day was 27th and the time was 19:20 so I decided to give it a try. One year later I can calmly say that this was one of my best decisions that I have ever made. Interact Club allowed me to participate in many programs and projects. Such as cleaning our mountain - Vitosha, organizing different events in our school - for Valentine’s Day, Game tournaments, marathons, etc.

We gathered large amounts of food and clothes for the poor areas in our country:

After that, I began to understand much more about community development. I was involved in projects and activities relating to human rights, environment and entertainment. It was a great pleasure for me to contribute to the development of my community through volunteering because the impact was visible.

I even started to see some changes in my character. It became easy for me to smile in difficult situations, to make new friends and just to trust the good in the people and the world. Right now I think that the best way to discover who you are in order to integrate yourself in the society is to volunteer and take part in different discussions and debates. I participate in my school’s philosophy course and team. We have a lesson and a discussion every week and it gives me the strength to push the week. There I get the chance to explore and engage in different ideas and studies in my search of the truth.

Writing my experiences down shows me how much and how little I have done. But reminds me of what I aim. To see, feel, touch, think and breathe. To feel alive!

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by: Mina Misheva

USE+FUL | Youth employment in Bulgaria

In the world and in the same way in Bulgaria, it is seen one tendency in increasing the number of young people who don’t have work. In Bulgaria the percent of unemployment among young people is 24.7%. Young people in working age are considered to be between 15 and 29 years old. Main factors for youth unemployment are the lack of education and qualification, which leads to 57,2% unemployment among young people and 19,8% among the all population in Bulgaria. Followed by migrations, lack of initiative among young people (mainly among young people who live with their parents) and misunderstanding of the employer about the work time.

There are several methods of coping, which is a good idea to be improved and for that purpose it is desirable for the companies to offer more consultations with young people, to hire to work more youngsters and to release people in retirement age. It will be good if the universities provide internships.

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by: Maya Pancheva