12-12-2022 15:32
We are travelling to Trun. We quickly compare who knows what about this town - the birthplace of Gyurga Pindjurova, the lowest temperature in Bulgaria was measured there, the Gorge of the Erma River and the rock chapel "Sveta Petka" are nearby. There are many reasons to visit this small town with a population of 2,290 people. The purpose of our trip is quite different. High unemployment and the desire to make quick money make a large percentage of people look for temporary work abroad. When this is combined with the lower level of education among part of the Roma community, the danger of abuse and fraud becomes particularly great.
To help comes a project of the International Organization for Migration, which has the task of telling about the pitfalls on the way to a seemingly well-paid job abroad, that can turn into a terrible experience, including leading to human trafficking. The National Network of Health Mediators, the Bulgarian Association for Family Planning and Sexual Health and the Minority Health Problems Foundation assist in this cause. They know that in order to reach people and be heard, it is not enough to simply collect information, print it in brochures to hand out. Face-to-face contact and the trust it builds are very important. Be willing to listen to those who have already been through the adventure called working abroad.
Everything starts exactly with meetings and a sociological survey among the community. The cities where the project is taking place are Breznik, Harmanli, Provadia, Trun and Sofia (Filipovtsi district). Very important is the help of the health mediators, who work at the municipalities on the field and are familiar to all people. They gather information about preferred countries to emigrate to, the common problems and what topics will be useful and of interest. After that, public informational events begin at locations. That is why we are here in Trun. Today's topics are the Czech Republic and Greece, and our hosts from the municipality help us on the spot. The venue is a popular one - “Aladdin”, which serves as a school cantina. In addition to the already mentioned brochures and some beautiful t-shirts, the 30 participants in the event also enjoyed a catering service for them. The meeting starts with stories about successful and not that much trips, about problems and achievements. The project team talks about the peculiarities of each country, how to research in advance the conditions and standard of living, what rights do we have as workers and how we can seek help if needed. Important topics are taxes, the health system and services, the legal minimum wage and the maximum hours of work per week. And in case of trouble, we learn which are the important telephone numbers and the universal international hand sign with which we can ask anyone for help. We do not skip the topic of giving birth abroad and how to register the baby in Bulgaria.
Nearly 1,300 people have already participated in events in the various cities. In addition to the common topic of human trafficking and how to protect themselves from fraud, they also learn about other countries such as Germany, Spain, Great Britain and Austria. But the project continues and until April 2024 there are more activities coming, including an internet campaign with videos, which we have yet to tell you about. The project is being implemented with the support of the Home Affairs Programme of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
