Awards for Worthy Bulgarians

published on 3/7/17 11:49 AM]

БНР Новини

Photo: BTA

Every year the 24 Hours daily distinguishes people with big hearts who have saved human lives, helped other people in distress, did good for the society. The Worthy Bulgarians of the Year initiative was started back in 2003. A total of 531 worthy Bulgarians have been awarded over the 15 editions of the initiative so far. More than 50 persons were distinguished for 2016. Over 130 guests attended the ceremony, who hailed the common heroes with Bulgarian flags. The top prize for last year is a special one and it is devoted to the people that took part in the Hitrino rescue operation last year. The stories of some of the awarded will make you witnesses of these moments. This is what Senior Commissioner Yalchan Rasim, head of the Shumen district directorate of the interior ministry said for Radio Bulgaria exclusively. He was in charge of the evacuation operation on the spot:

‘This award is huge honor for me – it is a sign of a job well done. I express my gratitude to my colleagues, as this is teamwork. I felt best when 11 days later the people of Hitrino returned home and told us: ‘No doors, no windows were left, but nothing is missing from our houses’.

We always think that heroes live in fairytales only, but Skopje still recalls the help of the 10 firemen from Blagoevgrad. Two Bulgarian teams assisted into the Macedonian capital after the devastating flood in early August 2016. People died then and hundreds remained in the streets. 30-year-old fireman David Galabov is one of the awarded persons. Here is what he recalls:

‘The population received us very well, but the situation was really bad both for us and the locals. A huge flood, with victims and many injured people. The award comes as satisfaction and recognition for job well done,’ the fireman says.

The golden girls of the rhythmic gymnastics ensemble were also among the distinguished. Coach Ina Ananieva was really thrilled:

‘This is the first ceremony of that kind for me and it is perhaps the most precious medal I have ever received both as a competitor and a coach. We don’t save human lives, but educate dignified Bulgarians via sport. I am proud to have touched the humaneness of these people,’ Mrs. Ananieva underlined.

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Abbot of the Troyan Monastery Bishop Sionyi was very humble in his joy for the recognition:

‘It is a great honor and joy for me to receive this award. I devote it to the monastery’s brotherhood and to our donators, who contribute to the restoration, repair works and restorations of the temple. I pray to Lord to give lots of strength to our people, to make our hearts better…’

A whole bunch of students from the village of Momtchilovtsi are among the bright faces of Bulgaria. Raycho Simidchiev tells us more on their award:

‘Every year when we take the cross out of the river on Epiphany we tour around the houses and spread God’s grace to the people. They give us money in exchange and we have decided to donate it to our church which has its very long history and needs restoration, in order to be preserved for the next generations’.

The last story of good is a sad, but cautionary one. It started with the leukemia of English teacher Lyudmila Angelova from Asenovgrad. The whole town joined her treatment campaign and after healing up the teacher started to collect money for her ill student Sinan Murad. Unfortunately the boy lost the battle on 17 January 2017, but one of his last wishes was the EUR 80,000 collected to be donated to other sick children. That was what his parents did. The boy’s mother Selma said in tears:
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‘Our boy lost the fight with the illness. Many Bulgarians supported him and that is why we donated the money to other kids in need, for their survival. Our son didn’t make it…’

The ceremony has proven that the Bulgarians can be strong, mighty and dignified in their faith.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

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