The little-known state of Zanzibar has displaced from the hearts of wealthier domestic tourists such established destinations as the Bahamas, the Maldives and even Monaco.
It turned out that in the last month about 3,000 Bulgarians have flown south of the equator to lie on the warm African beaches, to admire the tides, the giant tortoises, the mysterious jungle and many other exotics that most Europeans, if not go to the place, can only see the cinema.
However, a small group of Bulgarians went to Zanzibar not so much to travel, but with the noble mission to give smiles to the children of this otherwise very poor country. PR specialist Nasko Lazarov was its leader and ideologue of the charity. Here is what he said in an interview with Isaac Gozes for show.blitz.bg:
– Mr. Lazarov, how did the idea to go all the way to Africa to make the homeless children of Zanzibar happy come about?
– I had an invitation to visit my friends Galya Georgieva and Hristo Baykov, who have lived there for years. They told me that the children in Zanzibar are very poor and if I bring something, even a little, I will make them very happy. I have been a Red Cross volunteer since I was a child. I have participated in charity events many times and I have experienced many happy moments around them. It turned out that Dr. Veneta Pavlova, who became famous as the dentist of the Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone, also has such an attitude.
The idea was embraced by the TV presenter Maria Sylvester, who was included in the action without hesitation. We started collecting children’s gifts. This lasted for two months. Long negotiations, exhortation, tension. Many good people helped to collect about 60 boxes of T-shirts, hats, healthy rice chips, 500 toothbrushes and toothpastes, Bulgarian natural tea. The owner of a travel company Georgi Pasev helped us get the solid luggage to the place it was intended for. We named our mission: “Give smiles to the children of Zanzibar”.
– To whom did you bring the gifts?
– Our program included a meeting with the first lady of the country, the president’s wife. She had to tell us where to go. However, our visit could not take place. Then local friends advised us to visit the orphanage “Boo-boo-boo”, where over 350 children live.
– What did you know about them and what did you learn afterwards?
– These are children without families or with drug-addicted parents. Many of them lost their mothers at birth. We learned that this happens too often in Zanzibar. The residents of the orphanage were between 1 and 13 years old.
– How did they greet you?
– We decided to surprise them and left without warning them about the visit. We found them studying. Extremely beautiful, clean and cheerful. We were greeted by a radiant woman, to whom everyone addressed as Mother Susanita. Of course, no one here had heard anything about Bulgaria. They heard the name of our homeland from us for the first time. The hosts showed us several classrooms full of children. In one of them they were learning English. With a huge stick, the teacher showed the letters of the alphabet and the children repeated after her. Everyone was extremely disciplined, I was impressed by the great respect with which they treated Mama Suzanita. Everything she said was done in a minute.
– How did you receive the gifts?
– They were very happy. They gave us a program. They interrogated us. Maria Selvester won them over in an instant. We danced together the “Jerusalem” dance, which has become so fashionable lately. Dr. Pavlova’s children – Eva and Ognyan – made a demonstration on a model of how to properly brush your teeth in the morning and evening to keep them healthy.
In the evening, after we returned to the hotel, I received an SMS from Mrs. Suzanita, whose words really warmed my heart. She wrote to me that she thanked me heartily for her time and shared the great joy of the kids for the gifts. Bulgarian natural tea and healthy rice chips will be distributed for breakfast tomorrow, the statement said.
– Will you continue to “give smiles” to the children of Africa?
– Such are our intentions. Assistance will continue. We will use every opportunity when there are charter flights to send something. While we were at the orphanage, we learned from the hosts that their big problem was that they could not supply the children with fresh milk for breakfast. Even then we decided that when we return to Bulgaria, we will raise money and on our next visit, we will buy two cows for the boarding house.
– Your trip was not quite touristy and yet what was the most interesting thing you saw in Zanzibar outside the orphanage “Boo-boo-boo”?
“Freddie Mercury’s house in Stone Town, near the airport.” In it, the great soloist of “Queen” spent his childhood until 1956, when his family moved to Europe. Now this extremely attractive place for tourists is a hotel. In his lobby is a small museum collection of the singer: records, his piano, the shiny yellow jacket he wore to the band’s spectacular concert at Wembley Stadium. Admission to the museum is $ 8. Freddy’s room is on the third floor of the hotel. If someone decides to sleep in it, they have to pay $ 150.
“Zanzibar is proud of Freddie Mercury today, but it never was …”
“That’s the truth.” In the beginning, the unknown Farouk Bulsara, the future Freddy, because of his sexual orientation, was not loved by his compatriots. Today, however, his home attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists. While we were there, the flow did not stop. Russians came, Romanians, of course, there were Bulgarians. Because you can’t go to Zanzibar and not see where the great Mercury lived.
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