On May 30, 2019, winners of “Contemplation on the matter” essay competition gathered at the Russian Cultural and Information Center (RCIC) in the capital of Bulgaria
A discussion round table “Creator” took place here. This is the final stage of the international project. “Information and cultural exchange of ideas and projects for establishing sustainable international partnerships”. The Presidential Grants Foundation supports the project. Along with students from Nizhny Novgorod, Hamburg (Germany), Novi Sad (Serbia), Sofia (Bulgaria), Bijelo Polje (Montenegro), the winning students from VyatSU were invited - Tatyana Budilova, Kirill Karnaukhov, Elizaveta Kuligina, Ekaterina Novoselova, Natalia Paskhina, Alina Popova.
The purpose of the round table was outlined by Alla Larina, the project manager, the director of ANO Megaproject as “the possibility of a lively exchange of ideas and new projects for establishing friendly and long-term contacts between countries, cities, and people”. Irina Zhivikhina, the director of the Sofia RCIC, reinforced this idea. She emphasized in her welcoming speech that “participation of young people from different countries in the project is symbolic, since the Russian language and culture are extremely in demand in Bulgaria, and the lively atmosphere of information exchange takes warm, human relations from the emotional sphere to the sphere of long-term and mutually beneficial for all significant affairs”.
The delegation of VyatSU introduced participants of the discussion with the socio-cultural mission of the Flagship university of the Kirov region in the region, made presentations about their “heroes”. Each representative of delegation with great enthusiasm told about the people who once struck and continue to inspire now with their actions, deeds, moral tuning fork.
It is interesting that everyone who came to Sofia to share their stories, the main emphasis in writing an essay made on the areas of “Spirituality” and “Creativity”, these allowed to quickly find friends in interests, to be surprised by the coincidence of themes that rhyming with human values. Thus, Yulia Ionushaite, the heroine of E. Kuligina's essay attracted the attention of the head of the student theater of the Sofia University; representatives of Bulgarian public organizations were interested in pencraft of Alexander Balyberdin - the hero of the essay by N. Paskhina; heroes of the essay by T. Budilova, E. Novoselova, A. Popova were close to the heroes of Nizhny Novgorod students.
The participants unanimously noted the enormous contribution to the spread of the Russian culture of charming Irena Madzhgal from the small town of Bijelo Polje (Montenegro). At 18, she is leading in Russian language skills, winning international competitions, contests and acting as a kind of Ambassador of the Russian world in Eastern European countries.
In addition to the official program, the participants of the round table were offered a rich cultural program - excursions around the city, interactive participation in the project of ROSATOM and the Russian Cultural and Information Center in Sofia “Everything remains for people” dedicated to Children's Day. The intellectual game “Russian Chess”, which brought together guests from Russia, Germany, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Bulgarian politicians, public figures and journalists, aroused great interest.
VyatSU students shared their impressions of the trip, and this is the highest assessment to the project, which has already become history.
- The project “Contemplationon the matter” was an excellent opportunity to say out loud about the inconspicuous people next to us, who, in fact, if you look at them a little more closely, can be Heroes with a capital letter (N. Paskhina).
- A trip to Bulgaria was not just a gift - a fairy tale! We were given a chance to get acquainted with a new culture, with children from other countries, to show ourselves, to tell about people and organizations that deserved to be known. I have never experienced such vivid emotions and feelings that I got from exploring wonderful Sofia. Everything was new to me! Even Russian culture has opened from the other side! Many thanks to all the organizers who motivated us to join this project and presented an unforgettable journey! (A. Popova).
Natalia Pospelova, the head of the delegation,
the Deputy Head of the VyatSU Development Center
