Community Development

Thirteen-year-old Boyan lives in the village of Kurtovo Konare, less than 100 miles from the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. The village is small and educational opportunities for a child with muscular dystrophy like Boyan are limited. Boyan was diagnosed with the disease when he was six years old, and for the past year and a half has been confined to a wheelchair. He has been unable to attend school because it is not wheelchair accessible, and although friends help him, getting around is a problem.

Boyan’s favorite subject is mathematics and his grades are always excellent. The boy’s dream is to study computer science and to go to high school. Several months ago this was all but impossible.
In 2003, Boyan joined an individual training program at a Bulgarian chitalishte, a local community cultural and educational center. For centuries the chitalishte has been the focal point of Bulgarian tradition and culture, and the heart of community life. During the past few years, however, chitalishte activities were neglected as the economic transition made financing scarce.

USAID aims to bring back to life those Bulgarian community centers and build national capacity by strengthening local development and the participation of Bulgarian citizens. USAID is helping community centers in building alliances with the Ministry of Culture, local government, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations to revitalize the local community and to generate new opportunities for education and development in small and economically disadvantaged villages. The chitalishte project is a joint initiative of USAID, UNDP and the Government of the Netherlands.

Three hundred chitalishte centers throughout Bulgaria are participating in the USAID project. In addition, USAID is fostering information communications technology development at the centers. Twenty-five of the participating chitalishte have Internet centers, most of them located in remote and economically disadvantaged regions of the country. USAID funded the renovation of the chitalishte in Kurtovo Konare which is now accessible to disabled people like Boyan.

As a result of USAID assistance, 600 children have access to a limited range of activities including computer courses, Internet, e-mail, web development, and distance learning. In 2003, the number of trainees at the centers totaled 2,843 and additional certification was earned by 1,342 Bulgarians. The Project has created 131 jobs. Now Boyan has a chance to achieve his dreams by attending the Internet Center at the local chitalishte.