Bulgarians Who are ABLE

I’d like to follow up on my boost for Bulgaria’s idealist young students, business people, and entrepreneurs.  It seems like every week, I meet a new group of youths who are showing initiative to make Bulgaria a more prosperous and better place.  Just this past Sunday, I attended a talk at the American Corner in the Sofia City Library (Slaveikov Sq.) by Dr. Minko Balkanski.  The event was hosted by a new student group, ABLE (Association of Bulgarian Leaders & Entrepreneurs).  Its goal is to promote leadership and entrepreneurship among young Bulgarians and provide its members with training and opportunities. (For more information on it, contact Demir Tonchev at demirtonchev@abv.bg )

Many Bulgarians already know Dr. Balkanski as the celebrated Bulgarian-French professor of physics at the Sorbonne.  Last year, Dr. Balkanski gave a generous donation to the American University of Bulgaria (AUBG) to build a new academic center, which opened in a ceremony on May 15: http://www.aubg.bg/templateT1.aspx?page=2001218469) . 

In his presentation this weekend, Dr. Balkanski talked about the unlimited possibilities for young Bulgarians in a democratic society, and about the need to reject negativism and cynicism. He also talked about his life, and about the value of travel and a broad education, which I know Bulgarians of all ages respond to well.
But the professor’s main theme was on improving education here in Bulgaria, especially in the sciences. He has helped young scholars in mathematics, physics and information science.  He also mentioned that he has tried to establish a subject in high schools on morality and civic education, but hasn’t gotten school principals to support him.

Professor Balkanski works chiefly through an organization he founded, the Minju Balkanski Foundation (http://balkanski-foundation.org/welcome/index.php?lang=bg, in Bulgarian and French only), which is dedicated to his father. The organization aims to improve Bulgarian civil education and helps talented young Bulgarians get the education they deserve.  The goals of the Foundation are to help create a civil society by bringing ethics, personal responsibility, tolerance, and other values into the Bulgarian educational curriculum. 
The Foundation plays a terrific dual role of both helping young Bulgarians get ahead and by encouraging well-off adults in Bulgaria and abroad make a worthwhile philanthropic contribution to this cause.

I urge Bulgarian students to look into Professor Balkanski’s work.  He was certainly an inspiration to the ABLE students.