COMENIUS – Biography

George Plamenov Atanasov

BulgariaLanguage School “Frederic

Joliot-Curie”, VarnaApril 2009

Family

• My name is George Atanasov.

I was born in 1983 in Varna.

• My parents and all relatives

have Roma origin.

• My elder sister Teodora and I had been separated

after the divorce of our parents when I was 7.

Teodora had been brought up by our mother and I-

by our father and our Grandmother.

Family

• My Grandmother was born in Tolbuhin. In the 1930’s she trekked to Varna where she became a textile factory worker. She is of the protestant religion.

• My father had a job in a factory designated for employing disabled people.

• My father and my grandmother spoke only Bulgarian at home. I didn’t know Romany until I was 16.

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•Kindergarten - in Vladislavovo district where the

family lived. My father volunteered for

kindergarten furnishing and thanks to that I have

been registered at the garden. My memories

about this period are not cheerful. We were 2

Roma children in the group. I had been

reproached for all nuisances because of my Roma

ethnos. The kindergartener was often beating me.

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•Primary school – “Aleko Konstantinov” school

in the same district. I had to repeat my first class,

my first schoolmistress didn’t like me - I had

learning problems because of dyslexia. Because of

that she hit my head on the blackboard …

•I lost my willingness to continue school, but my

father urged me to repeat first class with another

teacher.

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• Grammar – school – in Draganovo village

My father was unemployed, our life became very

difficult and we had to move from the village to

survive. There I completed at the Draganovo

grammar – school.

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• Agriculture Vocational School in Valchi dol

My family moved to the little town Valchi dol,

where we bought a house in Roma district. Most

of our relatives lived there. We farmed in Valchi

dol. At 16 I had to experience new stress -

because I did not speak Romany the Roma

people did not accept me. They surnamed me

“the Bulgarian”.

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University

• In 2001 I was admitted to study law at the

Varna Technical University, but because of the

high fees I couldn’t begin.

• I finished a course of ethno pedagogic in Veliko

Tarnovo and worked as a resource teacher in

an intercultural school.

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• 2002-2006 I studied Social pedagogic at the Shumen University . (the fees there were not so high and I paid them by working)

• After my graduation I worked for 2 years at Social Welfare – in the Keeping Children Safe Department.

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•Now I am a pedagogical advisor at First Primary

School, Varna. I consult teachers, the headmaster,

parents about the school’s integration of minority

students.

•I am a president of a nongovernmental

organization – Balkan Association AMALIPE

(www.amalipe.hit.bg ) We deal with intercultural

education and prevention of drug- addiction.

AMALIPE

Friends and interests

•I am not married yet.

•My religion is Protestantism and I go to the

Evangelical Methodist Church in Varna. Maybe I

profess this religion because my grandmother and

my father were protestants.

•I have many friends from different ethnics –

Roma, Bulgarians, Turks, Armenians, Greeks.

•I play the piano in a Rock Style Gospel band.

The reasons for my successful integration and

realization in the Bulgarian society

• The family support and care.

• Early involving in educational

System.

• The role of the religion.

• Growing among Bulgarian surroundings.

George Atanasov, 27 April 2009

Project: “Mind the Gap – Migration Needs

Integration”