Bulgarian emigrant Ginka Georgieva talks about life abroad and charity

“We are Bulgarians and always will be, no matter where we live”, Says Ginka Georgieva. For 15 years now our fellow citizen has been living in the city of Seattle, USA. She was brought to the country of the infinite opportunities by her desire to have a better living standard for herself and her family. She left her career of an English language teacher in her native town of Gorna Oryahovitza as this profession was not able to fulfill her dreams for a better life. In the USA Ginka develops web sites and has online portals, where she presents mainly Bulgarian authors. Moreover, the Bulgarian has devoted herself to charity. In the beginning of 2012, at her initiative, Bulgarians living in USA and Canada have given the start of a charity campaign, entitled” Bulgarian modern art”. It aims at stimulating the native art and culture as well as to help the Bulgarian hospitals buy modern appliances and medicine. Not long ago, as part of the campaign in the mountain village of Gostilitsa, a meeting of 11 Bulgarian artists and icon-painters was held. The pictures drawn during the meeting and some other works of art became part of un exhibition called” Beauty heals”. It will be displayed at various halls across Bulgaria, so many people can see the masterpieces of modern artists and support the initiative by buying their works. The pictures were uploaded in Internet on the official page of the campaign” Bulgarian modern arts” and will be sold there as well.

“I was driven by private motifs to come back and try to do as much as I can for Bulgaria- says Ginka about her decision to give herself up to the charity cause. “I have not cut of my link with Bulgaria. I can say that no Bulgarian living abroad has forgotten his motherland. Everyone is interested in what happens in the country. People watch Bulgarian television and listen to Bulgarian radio stations and communicate with their relatives in Bulgaria through Internet. Many Bulgarians who live abroad make various charity campaigns in order to help sick children and to support a number of charity causes. I believe that Bulgarian emigrants along with those who live in Bulgaria could help our country and support hospitals and culture so they can reach European level. After all, we live in the 21st century. Our hospitals should be modern and the modern art should make history with its beautiful works.”

Ginka Georgieva in the company of artists Georgi Petrov, Petya Papazova and Ognyan Kuzmanov who donated paintings for the "Beauty Heals" charity exhibition

Ginka participates actively in causes aimed at helping Bulgaria as well as in others such as the ones of the American Cancer Society which aims at examining this bad disease and finding a remedy. The invention of a medicine, no matter where it happens could help cure many people in America as well as around the globe. I mainly support science which deals with medicine studies, says Ginka Georgieva. About the life of the emigrant and her ability to adapt to the American reality, she says:
“It is quite easy because there are a lot of emigrants from around the world and everyone has equal rights as the legislation applies equally to everyone. People respect each other and are tolerant towards foreign culture. The opportunities are immense. If you work hard and are a man of enterprise you can easily succeed.”

Ginka says that her husband is Bulgarian citizen, who has been living for nearly 30 years in USA. This fact has made a great impact on their decision to settle beyond the Atlantic Ocean. The younger daughter was born there, but she has a perfect command of Bulgarian language. ”They are pleased to visit Bulgaria and enjoy their time with relatives and have lots of fun there”, says Ginka Georgieva and continues.

“I always demand from them to value the beauty of the nature in Bulgaria as well as the architecture and become part of the local folklore, songs and dances. The people and the folk music are a real fortune. The local costumes are quite beautiful. My younger daughter shows big interest in them.”

Despite the big distance Ginka and her family try to visit Bulgaria every other year. They spend their time in the company of their relatives and friends. “We try to do many things in a short period. We organize trips to different towns and take walks along our beautiful seaside, says Mrs. Georgieva. Ginka admits that she loves to draw.

“Art is my hobby. It makes me relax. I draw for pleasure and I am happy when I find an exhibition of Bulgarian artists on Internet. Art is a very important part of my life. I make experiments quite often. Beautiful images, impressive colors are the things that inspire me the most. In Bulgaria I am mostly inspired by the magnificent nature: the sunflower fields, lavender fields, the beautiful forests and mountains. Our nature is peerless, says Ginka Georgieva in conclusion.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

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Bulgarian emigrant Ginka Georgieva talks about life abroad and charity

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