Pay it Forward Project

Pay it Forward Project

Project Overview

The Foreign language High School and the Regional Public Library in Pazardjik, Bulgaria had extremely limited resources to offer to students and people from the community. Realizing the importance of computer literacy and knowledge of foreign languages, Angel Kelchev, member of San Francisco Rotary, initiated this project to provide both institutions with up-to-date computer and media equipment. He partnered with a number of Rotary and Rotaract clubs as well as with other service organizations, making it possible to raise $25,000 for the project

The funds were used for the purchase of computer and media equipment worth $25,000 to be installed at the Foreign Language High School and at the Regional Public Library in Pazardjik:– 36 customized PC’s with flat screens and 1 laptop– 3 projectors – 3 projector screens– 4 printers – 4 scanners– Network supplies

1,000 High School students and more than 10,000 registered readers directly benefited from the donation The project was officially unveiled on September 3rd, 2007 in Pazardjik where many Rotarians, public servants, local

business people and students attended. The United States Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle sent a representative of his to attend the opening ceremony and committed to attending the opening ceremony the following year for the planned renovation of the Children’s Library in Pazardjik


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Foreign Language High School, Pazardjik, Bulgaria

Before After


Components and Amount Fundraised

20 customized PC’s with flat screens 2 projectors 2 projector screens 2 printers 2 scanners Network supplies

$15,000

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Opening Ceremony

Commentary

Up: Rotary members, public servants, business people and students gathered at the Foreign Language High School for the opening ceremony of the “Pay it Forward” project

Right: Based on an ancient tradition a priest said a prayer and blessed the benefactors, the school and its students. Everyone got a piece of bread with salt or honey


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Opening Ceremony Cont’d

Commentary

Diagonal: Angel Kelchev and Ivan Popov, president of Pazardjik Rotary Club, officially unveiled the two new computer labs at the Foreign Language High School

Up & Left: Based on an ancient tradition everyone got a piece of bread with salt or honey, thus blessing the donation and honoring the benefactors


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Commentary

Diagonal: Angel Kelchev and Ivan Popov, president of Pazardjik Rotary, in one of the two newly opened computer labs

Up: Angel Kelchev and Peter Hristov, past president of Pazardjik Rotary

Left: Group picture of the key Rotarians involved in the project


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Regional Public Library, Pazardjik, Bulgaria

Before After

Components and Amount Fundraised

16 customized PC’s with flat screens 1 laptop 1 projector 1 projector screen 2 printers 2 scanners

$10,000


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The Library prior to the Project

Commentary

Diagonal: A librarian receiving a little girl lacks any equipment to speed up her work or organize readers’ records

Left & Up: Library staff was employed in manual processes because of lack of functioning computer equipment


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The Library prior to the Project Cont’d

Commentary

All: The library had to offer inadequate resources, dated computer equipment, manual processes and slow service to readers


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Commentary

Diagonal: Ivan Popov, president of Pazardjik Rotary and Angel Kelchev unveiled the donation at the Regional Public Library in Pazardjik

Left: Ivan Evstatiev, Mayor of Pazardjik, cut the ribbon at the library and invited the quests to tour the facilities

Up: Peter Hristov, past president of Pazardjik Rotary, congratulated Angel Kelchev on successfully leading the project


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Commentary

Diagonal & Up: Local folklore dancers greeted the Mayor and Angel Kelchev with traditional bread and salt and invited them for a tour

Left: One of the regular readers at the library thanked the Mayor and Angel Kelchev for this major gift


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Commentary

All: Some of the computer new clusters built at the Regional Public Library allowing the staff to be more effective and the readers to get access to modern technology and information from Internet


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Commentary

Diagonal: Local ensemble of folklore artists entertained the guests

Up: Many guests came to honor the opening of this project including a representative of the US Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle. He was unable to attend but committed to be present at the opening of next year’s planned project in the Children’s library in Pazardjik

Up: Group picture of Pazardjik Rotarians, local business people and public servants


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Conclusion

The major donation given to the Foreign Language High School directly impacted approximately 1,000 students and drastically improved their academic experience. Furthermore, this equipment was made available to people from the outside community by having qualified instructors give classes in computer literacy and foreign languages. These revenue generating initiative was designed by the project leader Angel Kelchev and the High School principal in order to make the project self-sustainable. The fees generated through these classes are used for equipment maintenance and for the general needs of the school

Students from the Foreign Language High School and members of the outside community now have access to up-to-date technology. Computer skills are an inseparable part of most jobs nowadays and this project has had a major impact on the community and its access to modern education

Service Above All

The major donation given to the Regional Public Library directly impacted more than 10,000 registered readers. The computer and media equipment donated streamlined the working processes in the library, allowed for digitization of readers’ records, book and newspaper catalogs, Internet access for readers and much more. This gift drastically improved the experience of the readers who are now able to obtain information on a global level through Internet. Furthermore, the Library Director and the project leader Angel Kelchev designed computer literacy and foreign language classes for people with limited resources from the outside community

Readers at the Regional Public Library and members of the outside community now have access to up-to-date technology and are able to advance their computer and foreign language skills. They are all aware of the importance of such knowledge nowadays and this project has brought them closer to their professional and academic goals

Foreign Language High School Regional Public Library

This project is a result of the collaboration and joint efforts of multiple Rotary and Rotaract clubs as well as other service organizations. It comes as a follow up to the “Computers for Bulgaria” project from 2006 when $25,000 worth of computer

equipment was donated to the Mathematical High School of Pazardjik, Bulgaria. Such initiatives bring closer Rotarians and other actively engaged individuals from all over the world and promote cultural understanding and tolerance


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Appendix

Computers for Bulgaria Project Participation

Clubs and Organizations

Mr. Angel Kelchev

Rotaract District 5170 Governor 2006-2008

www.kelchev.com

[email protected]

Key Participants

Palo Alto Rotary Club, CA Bellevue Rotary Club, WA Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary, CA Pazardjik Rotary Club, Bulgaria

Stanford Rotaract Club, CA BCC Rotaract, WA

Interact District 5170 BCC Phi Theta Kappa, WA Rotary International Foundation

Rotaract Clubs

Other

Rotary Clubs

Project Leader

Key Participants

Mr. Walter Hays, Past President of Palo Alto Rotary, CA

Mr. Robert Rose, WSC Chair at Bellevue Rotary, WA

Mr. Donn Wadley, Rotaract District 5170 Chair, CA

Mr. Petar Hristov, Pazardjik Rotary President, Bulgaria

Ms. Maria Lazarova, Stanford Rotaract member

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http://www.kelchev.com/

Give Sight Project Participation


Mr. Pradeep Rajendran

Stanford Rotaract President

[email protected]

Key Participants

Bellevue Rotary Club, WA Palo Alto Rotary Club, CA Palo Alto University Rotary, CA Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary, CA Coimbatore Rotary Club, India Pazardjik Rotary Club, Bulgaria

Stanford Rotaract Club, CA Silicon Valley Rotaract, CA

Lehman Brothers, Inc. Rotary International Foundation

Rotaract Clubs

Other

Rotary Clubs

Project Leaders

Key Participants Mr. Walter Hays, Past President of Palo Alto Rotary, CA Mr. Robert Rose, WSC Chair at Bellevue Rotary, WA Mr. Donn Wadley, Rotaract District 5170 Chair, CA Mr. Petar Hristov, Pazardjik Rotary President, Bulgaria Mr. Don MacKenzie, Palo Alto University Rotary President, CA Dr. R.V. Ramani, Coimbatore Rotary Past President, India Dr. S.V. Kandasamy, Coimbatore Rotary Past President, India Mr. J. Ravi, Coimbatore Rotary President, India

Mr. Angel Kelchev

Rotaract District 5170 Governor ’06-’08

www.kelchev.com

[email protected]

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Pay it Forward Project Participation


Mr. Angel Kelchev

San Francisco Rotary Member

Past Rotaract District 5170 Governor ‘06-’07

www.kelchev.com

[email protected]

Key Participants

Bellevue Rotary Club, WA Palo Alto Rotary Club, CA Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary, CA Palo Alto University Rotary, CA Pazardjik Rotary Club, Bulgaria Velingrad Rotary, Bulgaria Panagiurishte Rotary, Bulgaria

Stanford Rotaract Club, CA Silicon Valley Rotaract

Interact District 5170 BCC Phi Theta Kappa, WA Rotary International Foundation

Rotaract Clubs

Other

Rotary Clubs

Project Leader

Key Participants

Mr. Robert Rose, WSC Chair at Bellevue Rotary, WA

Mr. Walter Hays, Past President of Palo Alto Rotary, CA

Mr. Donn Wadley, Rotaract District 5170 Chair, CA

Mr. Ivan Popov, Pazardjik Rotary President, Bulgaria

Mr. Peter Hristov, Past Pazardjik Rotary President, Bulgaria

Mr. Rosen Antov, Past Pazardjik Rotary President, Bulgaria

Ms. Maria Lazarova, Stanford Rotaract member

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Documents

Pay it Forward Project