After 4 years of feasibility visits, a feasibility report, first exchanges and the establishment of a volunteer network, EFIL is happy to share that Bulgaria now has a registered organisation to run exchange programmes with AFS partners: Intercultural Exchanges Bulgaria.
The organisation was established in April 2015 by local AFS volunteers in Sofia. The Chair of the board is Savio Grippo. The board counts 3 members. Currently the organisation is involved in sending 11 students on the year programme, the European Citizenship Trimester Programme (ECTP) and intensive programmes. Volunteers of the new organisation have been trained through participation in EFIL events over the past years, such as the Volunteer Summer Summits in 2013 and 2014, the Programme Directors Meeting in 2015, and different volunteer training events since 2012. In 2013 the EFIL Training for Trainers was hosted in Sofia which greatly benefitted local volunteers. In addition, training has been delivered by EFIL on the spot to Bulgarian volunteers. The group of key volunteers consists of about 20 active volunteers.
We are looking forward to the further development and growth of the co-operation between Intercultural Exchanges Bulgaria and the AFS network.
