This year again volunteers from Switzerland visited our centers and spent several exciting days with our young people in Kyustendil. Their visit is the end of the volunteer activities – an integral part of their curriculum. The students themselves choose a cause to support and how to raise funds to support it.
We are fascinated by the children who have recognized our cause as their own, as well as by the creative ideas and inspiration put into every activity organized by them. We are most impressed by their engagement during their visit – their attitude, understanding and approach to our young people with disabilities.
“They are just as human as we are. They just look a bit different, like redheads 😊“, Wilma told us with a smile as she spoke with great enthusiasm about the past days and the most exciting moments for her.
For each of the volunteers, the most memorable moments were different, but the most important for all was the time spent together with the young people from our centres.
The creative workshops allowed them to show their creativity – they made beautiful bracelets, created magnets and wooden decoupage boards, and painted with great inspiration. Each piece was unique in itself and expressed the personality and imagination of its creator.
One of the favourite experiences for most of the volunteers was the folk dance lesson, during which they had the opportunity to experience our traditions and get better acquainted with Bulgarian culture. Dancheto, one of the ladies from our family houses, quickly infected the others with her energy and enthusiasm, and together they all fell into the magic of dance. And for those of us standing on the sidelines, the most exciting thing was to watch the interaction between the volunteers, the dancers from the folklore ensemble and our young people enjoying every moment together.
The shared moments didn’t end with the dancing – we spent the next day in Rila Park with fun games in nature and “beauty treatments” with our girls’ favourite make-up, hairpieces, polishes and temporary tattoos (always in huge quantities😉).
„Thank you for making this trip a very special one for everyone. The kids have made wonderful memories and have grown in their understanding and compassion to support all the incredible work Cedar Foundation does. You have an amazing team and we feel lucky to have been a part of it for a few days.”, is written on the card they left us shortly before they left.
We will cherish it always, as well as the precious memories we created together. We would like to thank the management, teachers, children and parents of the International School of Zug and Luzern who have been supporting our cause for so many years. This visit turned out to be our tenth-anniversary visit and we very much hope that it will not be our last and that we will spend many more exciting days with our beloved “Swiss volunteers.”💚
