To test themselves and go beyond their comfort zone are part of the challenges the participants in TFB’s Program face even in their early days as teachers. The strong motivation to work for transforming their students, however, is that great goal and a constant source of energy, which show them every day that they have chosen the right path.

The belief in the cause for equal access to quality education is also primary one for the supporters of Teach for Bulgaria, thanks to whom the organization manages to develop sustainably and reach more and more students and schools each year. The support of these people takes different forms and is often combined with personal challenges. Our faithful adherent, Yavor Atanassov, is an example of just this.

Yavor, who works as a software engineer for the BBC and has lived in London for years, has been provoked to start his longest solo cycling trip after a joke he shared with his brother more than a year ago. However Yavor decided to begin training hard for real, and to carry out a 1,300 km bicycle only trip from Paris to Barcelona from 3 to 13 June 2017. In order to make his trip not only a personal physical and life challenge, but also a much more inspiring idea, Yavor decided to organize a bicycle trip with a charity mission for the teachers under the Teach for Bulgaria Program.

This is how he contacted our team, proposing to combine his personal challenge with support for the mission of Teach for Bulgaria, fundraising for the monthly financial incentive for teachers under the Program (BGN 500 per month). The big goal Yavor has set is to raise GBP 3,000.

“I had a teacher who completely changed my life. Many children do not have such teachers, and this is a problem whose solution is worth investing in. I strongly believe in the goals that Teach for Bulgaria have set and I would like to use my trip as a channel to provide support for the organization’s work,” Yavor said.

Over the course of 10 days, he is planning to travel the distance between Paris and Barcelona allowing us to witness his impressions, thoughts and stories through short videos every day. They will be shared in the special Facebook group From Paris to Barcelona on a bike! dedicated to the bike adventure. Everyone supporting Yavor in the group can even now watch his feverish preparation for the trip — from his choosing music to planning the route and more about the cause of the trip.

A few weeks ago, Yavor was a guest at Teach for Bulgaria’s office to meet us personally and for him to tell us more about his motivation to support the organization and the teachers under the Program through his personal challenge.

We will keep track of the preparations, and soon Yavor’s journey itself. We sincerely thank all those who already donated. Please find other opportunities to support Teach for Bulgaria or to become our ambassador here. We remind you that each individual donation to the organization by 30 June 2017 will be doubled thanks to the commitment of our staunch supporter Bogomil Balkanski.

Yavor is not our first adherent who has decided to support Teach for Bulgaria through a personal challenge. In the end of 2016, Georgi Baldzhiev joined the Impetus PEF Challenge Triathlon in London, where he managed to raise nearly GBP 2,000 for Teach for Bulgaria. Elisa Emilova, who learned about Teach for Bulgaria at our London event in January 2017, joined the big London marathon in April 2017, also raising funds for the Program teachers.

If you also have an idea to support Teach for Bulgaria with such an idea and a personal challenge, do not hesitate to contact our team at development@zaednovchas.bg to meet and discuss the different options.