“We are entering class”: When you carry Bulgaria in your heart
Abide-i Hurriyet Street in multimillion-dollar Istanbul. At this address is a small Bulgaria. “We are entering class” at the Sunday school “Saints Cyril and Methodius”.
“Currently we are in a wonderful place, a historic place, a cult place, this is the Bulgarian Exarchate in Istanbul. And we are right in the reception hall of the Exarchate. It is a great happiness for us to be on Bulgarian soil! ”Says Nevin Achikieva, who is the school principal of the Bulgarian Sunday School in Istanbul.
For more than a century, this place has been the little Bulgaria that unites Christians in Constantinople, today’s Istanbul.
The beautiful white building, surrounded by a green garden in the middle of the noisy streets of Istanbul, was bought in 1907 on the initiative of Exarch Joseph. This is the place where the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church met until its relocation to Sofia.
Therefore, it sounds more than logical that this is where the Sunday School, established in 2015 at the initiative of the General Counseling, is located. It was decided to bear the name “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”, as the first Bulgarian school was opened, opened in 1857 in Constantinople and lasted 116 years.
“History is important for us Bulgarians. And not just the history of the time that is known. History is important in the future of our children. That’s right, the place of this school in the building of the Bulgarian Exarchate is extremely important, “said Radoslava Kafedzhiyska, Consul at the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Istanbul.
Nevinbashieva is the head of the school from its very head.
The proposal comes from the then Consul General Angel Angelov, although Nevin is already of retirement age.
“You agree, because it has to continue in any way. After this proposal came, I thought and said to myself that the teaching profession is not a profession, but a vocation. And I must continue this vocation in any way in order to live. To live in the spirit, you know, “says Achikbashieva.
And if then, 7 years ago, the school started with only 17 students, today they are 48 – from 1st to 12th grade. They study Bulgarian, history, geography, and have extracurricular activities – drawing and music.
Natalia Hatipoglu is a teacher of children from 1st to 4th grade.
Her task is to teach them to read and write in Bulgarian.
This is a dream come true for Natalia. A Bessarabian Bulgarian, born and raised in Moldova and now living in Turkey, she has always longed for Bulgaria. She is married to a Bulgarian emigrant, and only Bulgarian is spoken at home.
“I am very glad that I found this little Bulgaria here. Wherever I am – before I lived in Moldova, and now when I am in Turkey – I still say that Bulgaria is my homeland. And I still think I will return there, “said Natalia.
And if you ask her students why they attend Sunday School, you will feel their unadulterated love for their mother tongue.
Here come children who are just hearing Bulgarian. 11-year-old Marina is an Ethiopian child and her father has Bulgarian roots, although he has never lived in Bulgaria.
9-year-old Tsveti is a child from a mixed marriage – between a Turk and a Bulgarian woman.
On Saturday, she and her family travel from the city of Darja, about 50km from Istanbul, to be part of Sunday School. And until the school hours are over, her family is waiting in the yard of the Exarchate, along with all the other parents.
“We travel every weekend and we are happy that this opportunity exists. It is not a problem for me that we wait for hours. In the end, she learns the culture, she learns the language, and one day it will be a success, ”said Kubilai Avshar, Tsveti’s father.
“To get along with relatives in Bulgaria and, above all, to be literate, to be able to read and write in Bulgarian. There is no way “, I share her mother – Louisa Marinova Avshar.
Children from other cities also attend the school. Like Nedim, who has been living in Ankara for 2 years, but joins the classes of Mrs. Nevin Husseinova – head of the junior high school.
Ms. Husseinova’s students are successful in competitions and celebrate Sunday School. Paola, for example, is the winner of the “Stefan Gechev” literary competition with his essay on “Bulgaria”.
“I love my Bulgaria because it is the only and unique. The most beautiful in the world “, says Paola Kitanova.
But in addition to being good students, another lesson is valuable to Ms. Husseinova.
“The most important thing I want my students to learn is to be human.
For me, Bulgaria is a homeland. The place where I was born, the place where I lived. High, blue mountains, rivers and golden plains.
Valentine and Laura, brother and sister, are the only high school students. Although they have lived in Bulgaria for a short time, they like to return there.
But here the works of Ivan Vazov, Yordan Yovkov, Petko Slaveykov study with love. Because Ferihan Atasoy teaches them with love – he left Bulgaria during the “Great Excursion” in 1989.
“To return to my father’s house, where the evening humbly goes out …” Very often, remembering Dimcho Debelyanov’s poem, I feel sad because my father’s house stayed there, my childhood stayed there, my youth stayed there. We are like a tree without a root, according to Haytov, but we are trying in some way, albeit without a root, to cling to the soil where we are at the moment, “Atasoy said.
That is why they protect your little Bulgaria so much, here in the “Shishli” neighborhood, because this is the place where he is proud of his roots.
And although they are children of Bulgarians who have been working in Istanbul for a long time, children of mixed marriages, or children of emigrants, they all know Bulgarian customs and dance Bulgarian people – who study music, folklore and painting classes.
And so – every school year the six teachers of the Sunday school teach the children of … “Bulgaria” with a new fire. And they just dream of continuing what they started.