On the occasion of the United Nations International Day of Peace on 21 September, BRIDGES CC held a three-day interfaith weekend in Yakoruda.
From 26 to 29 September 2024, Hotel Helier was home to a group of 42 participants from 16 different places, belonging to 4 religious traditions - Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Muslims and Protestants.
"Seeding the Peace.BG" was a continuation of URI Europe's interfaith camp held in August in The Hague where 4 European CCs and countries collaborate.
It resonating as well with this year's UN Day of Peace theme: Cultivating a Culture of Peace. The format was fully funded by the BRIDGES, thanks to winning the first Prize of King Abdullah II of Jordan Award for Interfaith Harmony, in competition with 1186 events from around the world held in the framework of the UN Week of Tolerance (WIHW).
“Nestos Youth Initiatives” Association were our partners and hosts in Yakoruda.
Day 1 - Opening, weekend objectives and ice-breaking
During the first day of the interreligious weekend, the official guests of the opening ceremony were the Archpriest of the Razlog Diocese, Fr. Danail from Yakoruda, Pastor Traycho Stefanov from the Evangelical Church of St. John in Sofia. The Regional Mufti of Blagoevgrad Osman Kutrev and the Secretary of the Muftiate were not only among the dignitaries, but they themselves participated in the youth forum. Among the guests were also representatives of the local authorities in Yakoruda and Belitsa - dep. Mrs. Osman and Mrs. Tabakova, as well as principals of schools in the region.
Chair of BRIDGES Angelina Vladikova opened the forum and welcomed the guests and participants "to this different event, which is extremely significant for us and we believe that with it we will open a new chapter in the interreligious and intercultural dialogue in Bulgaria, with the help and active participation of all of you. It is an honour to be together, to walk on the bridge of friendship, despite our differences and in fact because of them. Thank you for your willingness not to let our differences stand in the way of living and working together for a better world."
The goals of the interfaith weekend were outlined, as well as the organizers' idea of creating a sustainable structure, strengthening partnerships and planning future initiatives on a national and international scale.
Yakoruda was chosen to be the home of “Seeding the Peace.BG” for a reason, it marked our long-standing partnership and friendship with Hatidje Djurina, the President of the “Youth Initiatives Nestos” Association.
She said that the local community is welcoming, ready for such initiatives and happy to host us.
After the official opening, BRIDGES youth leaders Silvia Trifonova and Ahmed Gorelski took the baton. With ice-breaking games the participants got to know each other and learnt their names. Then they divided into 3 working groups to work on specific topics for the next three days.
In the evening, the group was joined by special guest HRH Prince Boris Saxe-Coburg-Gotha the guardian of the Bulgarian crown who also was among the participants in the Hague during the UEI Europe camp.
Day 2 - Eco-justice and meeting with religious leaders in Yakoruda
The second day of the interfaith weekend "Seeding the Peace. BG" offered colourful activities in which participants gave their bid for a better future - one in which man lives in peace with his neighbour as well as in peace with his earthly home.
The 6 young participants from Bulgaria at the URI Europe camp in The Hague gave an exciting presentation about their summer experience, which generated valuable friendships and unforgettable emotions. Each of them shared what they had learned and experienced with the other participants from the Netherlands, Belgium and Albania, from youth facililitators and from the URI team leading the format.
With a school bus from the Municipality, the group headed to the city for meetings with the leaders of the two religious communities in the community - Muslims and Orthodox Christians. At the Mosque in Yakoruda, the guests were warmly welcomed by the Regional Mufti of Blagoevgrad, Osman Kutrev, as well as by his deputy in the town and the Imam of the local Mosque.
Immediately afterwards Fr. Danail welcomed the group at the St. St. Cyril and Methodius" and shared highlights from the centuries-old history of interreligious coexistence in the community.
The words of each of the religious leaders overlapped as a testimony to the sincere spirit of good neighborliness and tolerance of the people in the area.
A constant companion in the walk was HRH Prince Boris Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whose ancestors, it became clear, had left their spiritual and material mark on the community. We found out that even the main street of Yakoruda bears the name "Tsar Boris III".
After lunch HRH Prince Boris Saxe-Coburg-Gotha told us about his deep family connection with Jordan, as well as about the project marking the locations of the Holy Scriptures in the country, the cradle of Christianity. A temporal, spatial and cultural bridge.
Seen from above, the world has no borders. The bird's-eye view removes distinctions - between countries, cultures, people, religions... This is what one might think as the Prince steers a drone high in the clouds above Yakoruda in the way he captured the landscape of the holy sites in Jordan a year earlier.
The second half of the day was dedicated to the ecological values that underpin our existence. Eco-justice and our footprint on the environment, the conservation of water resources and the responsibility we each have. Youth leaders Silvia Trifonova and Ahmed Gorelski illustrated the idea of natural balance with a series of fun games, culminating in the planting of a tree (acacia) of peace and hope. Each participant "planted" symbolically around the tree a wooden heart with wild flower seeds, on which they wrote their message of peace.
The BRIDGES team and partners from Tervel and Aytos outlined short-term goals and future plans, building peace clubs in the country and national interfaith meetings.
Day 3 - Partnerships, trip to Razlog, cultural evening
On the third day of "Seeding the Peace.BG", the Holocaust and the "Jewish Question and Bulgarian Cinematography" found a place in the morning sessions. Peter Gramatikov, BRIDGES CC board member , founding father of URI network in Bulgaria and former URI Europe Global Trustee, shared briefly about the Holocaust and the projects implemented during the last few years with the support of Olga Lenguel Institute (TOLI).
An interesting presentation on "The Jewish Question and Bulgarian Cinematography" was given by youth facilitator Biserka Gramatikova. The session presented a film retrospective dedicated to one of the darkest pages in human history, which for a number of reasons brings us Bulgarians one of the brightest examples of tolerance and unity around a humane cause.
Immediately afterwards, each of the three groups set to work actively on their themes and creating conceptual projects.
At noon, the entire group of 42 boarded the attraction's narrow gauge train to Razlog. During the trip, everyone enjoyed the incredibly picturesque mountain landscapes.
In Razlog we were welcomed at the train station by Kostadinka Todorova and the coordinating team of the Anna Lindh Foundation for Bulgaria and Association "International Cooperation Initiatives". They showed us the sights of the town and treated us with typical regional dishes.
Even more remarkable was the experience in the office of the organization, where, according to an old Bulgarian custom, we were welcomed with geraniums and homemade banitsa – zelnik.
We were surprised with a rich cultural program presented by the folklore group "Dobarskite babi", which is included in the national list of living human treasures. They greeted the group with several folk songs from the region. Especially for HRH Prince Boris Saxe-Coburg-Gotha a unique wedding ceremony was presented.
Along with this surprise, we had the opportunity to hear from Kostadinka about Anna Lindh's mission and work globally and nationally.
They devoted time to introduce mission and philosophy of the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Bulgarian Anna Lindh Network of which Association “International Initiatives for Cooperation” is the coordinator, and Bridges - Eastern European Forum for Dialogue is one of the active members.
We had a chance also to discuss next steps in our partnership and specifically in the realization of a conceptual project, the “Peace Pallete” Assembly which aims to promote intercultural cooperation in the Mediterranean and sow peace and understanding between different nations, religions, ethnicities... This project can bring together the potential and competencies of BRIDGES, Anna Lindh and URI networks.
We took the narrow-gauge back to Yakoruda, where the cultural programme prepared by our talented participants was the highlight of the day. Music, poetry and theatrical interpretations beautifully interwoven in the program. Undoubtedly the icing on the cake were Agleya Kaneva and Boris Petkov, who ended the concert with jazz interpretations and songs.
Day 4 - Presentation of results, future plans, certificates.
Day 4 of the Interfaith Weekend "Seeding the Peace" was a time for reflection, a closing session and an emotional farewell between the youth and the organizers.
HRH Prince Boris Saxe-Coburg-Gotha presented all the young participants with certificates for their active contribution to the realisation of the event and to the establishment of a religious and cultural dialogue with the local communities. He himself received a certificate of appreciation from the BRIDGES for his contribution and support to the cause and the format.
The three youth teams presented the thematic projects they had been developing over the previous days.
United by the motto "Seeding the Peace", the participants developed in detail three concepts: a youth camp, a concert and an international peace assembly with the working title "Palette of Peace". During the presentation we saw many fun surprises, creative ideas, large-scale programmes, which we started to dream about together.
The weekend ended with an exciting exchange of symbolic gifts during which everyone revealed their "secret friend". As expected, the game only confirmed the true friendship between the participants.
Before leaving, each attendee left their mark on the colorful peace tree painted by Dilek and Eileen and received a seed bracelet to plant back in their home.
