The “Youth and Civic Initiatives in the Rose Valley” Association is hosting a series of inspiring meetings with women from small towns and villages to explore the challenges they face in their daily lives.
But these are not just surveys and discussions. 💬
Each meeting is transformed into an art event—while painting, women relax, open up, and share their stories.
🖌 Under the mentorship of Penka Mincheva (Director of the Municipal Art Gallery – Karlovo), participants create beautiful floral paintings using flowers from their own gardens—and take their artworks home as a keepsake.
📍 Meetings have already taken place in Dabene, Voynyagovo, Kliment, Prolom, and Sopot.
💭 Among the key challenges women highlighted are:
▪️ lack of convenient transportation
▪️ absence of local pharmacies
▪️ limited cultural life
Women from Voynyagovo recalled times when the village had regular cinema screenings and concerts—even featuring Bulgaria’s pop icon Lili Ivanova. 🎤
📊 The discussions also covered important topics such as:
▪️ life for women living alone
▪️ division of roles within households
▪️ equality in the workplace
▪️ lower pensions among women
▪️ caregiving responsibilities and their recognition
▪️ domestic violence and its root causes
🗣 Each meeting has its own focus:
In Prolom—why fewer women run for public office.
In Sopot—the role of women in sports, inspired by a poem dedicated to the Bulgarian women who have climbed Mount Everest. 🏔
🤝 Between March 8 and April 29, more intergenerational meetings are planned to highlight women’s solidarity and further explore the challenges faced by women in small communities.
The project is supported by the Bulgarian Fund for Women under the “BIRDS IN BG 2” initiative, co-funded by the European Union.
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