An online meeting with Rotary Club Hod-Hacarmel, Israel, with President Mr. David Afek took place on 26 January 2021. The President and several members of Rotary Club Sofia International attended the meeting. The ICC Israel Bulgaria Committee Coordinator and members of the committee also participated. The District Governor of Rotary Israel together with a Bulgarian born lecturer spoke about the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The meeting laid the foundation for cooperation between Rotary Club Sofia International and Rotary Club Hod-Hacarmel. The two Presidents presented the activities and the projects of their clubs. It turned out that both clubs successfully realized medical supplies donation for hospitals projects during the Covid-19 pandemic. Apart from the historical ties and friendship between Israel and Bulgaria, the similar projects realized by the two clubs are a solid ground to start working towards a deeper cooperation. Both presidents expressed their willingness to further work in this direction.
As the meeting was held on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the main topic was an extensive lecture on the Holocaust by a Bulgarian born speaker in Hebrew. Mr. Naftali Hillel, born in Vidin, Bulgaria presented a brief history of his birthplace country. He gratefully underlined in his presentation the saving of the Bulgarian Jews during the WWII by the Bulgarian authorities under the pressure of the society.
The online meeting with Rotary Club Hod-Hacarmel ended with a desire from both clubs to meet again soon.
Donation for Zlatograd Hospital by Rotary Club Sofia International in cooperation with Rotary Club Zlatograd-Nedelino took place on 23 January 2021. The two clubs handed out medical supplies for Zlatograd Hospital MBAL “Prof. Dr Asen Shopov”. The donation is for more than 6000 BGN. It consists of contactless thermometers, protective shields, disinfectants, protective overshoe supplies, protective aprons, gloves and bedlinen. The project realization was possible thanks to the individual contributions of members of the club (Mrs. Linda Kim, Mr. Claude and Mrs. Inna Badan, Mr. Jorg Shenk, Mr. Marc Bouzy). We also received a kind donation from Rotary Club Paris Agora, France. The remaining amount was drawn form the club’s funds.
The handover of the supplies was at the hospital in Zlatograd. Numerous members of Rotary Club Sofia International were present – Mrs Hristina Malchevska, President Elect 2021-2022, Ms Ani Hristova, Past President, Ms Elena Vasileva, Secretary Elect 2021-2022. Members of Rotary Club Zlatograd-Nedelino – Mr Emil Pashov, Past President, Mr Emil Pehlivanov, President also were there. The director of the Zlatograd Hospital, Dr Lyudmil Lichev, expressed his gratitude for the donations.
In the past two years Rotary Club Sofia International supported hospitals in in Shumen, Targovishte and Razgrad by providing medical equipment from Austria. A project in cooperation with Rotary Club Korneuburg and Rotary Club Klosterneuburg. Rotary Club Sofia International is pleased to continue with the medical donation activities this year, with the current project in support of a local municipal hospital in Zlatograd during the difficult pandemic period.
Ronald McDonald Foundation presentation at a regular online meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International took place on Wednesday, 11 November 2020. It was presented by our friend and President Elect Mrs. Hristina Malchevska.
There were 13 club members and the President Elect of Rotary Club Sofia Serdika attending the online meeting.
The meeting started with an update on the club’s project proposals for fundraising. Most of the projects are still in planning phase. More details will be available once the projects are conceptualized.
Next topic was concerning the positive steps being made with our Rotaract Club Sofia International in regards to restarting the club’s activities. Its financial stability also was elaborated upon.
Further on the President updated the participants on the ongoing developments and negotiations with software service providers. These are aiming at helping the club to digitalize its life in the situation of Covid-19 Pandemic.
The highlight of the meeting was a very interesting Ronald McDonald Foundation presentation delivered our friend Mrs. Hristina Malchevska.
The next meeting of the club will be held again online on 18 November 2020 from 18:45 h. All friends are welcome to join. Details on our website.
Regular 2in1 meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International on Wednesday 4 November 2020. The meeting was held in Hilton Sofia and online simultaneously. It was the first of its kind mixed type of meeting, due to the COVID 19 situation.
The meeting started with updates on our international cooperation. The ongoing developments with Rotary Club Zurich International for the support of MED-Bul Project. The continuous developments with opportunities for cooperation with Rotary Club Paris Agora and Rotary Club Ferney Voltaire from France. We also discussed about how to enhance the opportunities from the ICC Bulgaria-Germany cooperation.
We continued with prioritization of the projects our club will support this Rotarian year. The main ones are support for the school in Rakovitsa, support for the orientation club in Elena, support for the Zlatograd Hospital.
Later our friends Ms. Ani Hristova and Mrs. Hristina Malchevska shared an interesting opportunity for cooperation with the “Teddy Bear” Association in Bulgaria. It is a platform for kids, old people and people with special needs, who need help. Ani and Hristina proposed to join efforts with this Association by supporting some of their causes either as a club or personally. Rakovitsa school project will also be put in that platform.
An important topic which we deliberated on is the club life during Covid-19 Pandemic. We as friends must protect each other and our families. In this respect, it is wiser to switch more and more to an online meeting environment, and online organization of tasks, administration, projects. Thus, till the end of December 2020 there will be no meetings held in Hilton Sofia. Few digital tools presented by our president could make the club life possible and more interactive during this online period.
We also considered ideas how to further optimize our club’s website and improve the visibility of the projects on which we are working and improve the fundraising process.
Furthermore, we were glad to speak about the very positive development of our Rotaract Club Sofia International and the plan for ongoing active cooperation with them.
The traditional Oktoberfest of Rotary Club Sofia International this year was on 28 October 2020. It took place in a nice cozy restaurant – Die Alte Lampe – German beer garden “Lanterns” in Lozenets district in Sofia. Our dear friend Mr. Rumen Rusinov was the main organizer and as usual he did a fantastic job.
It is an annual tradition of our club to celebrate Oktoberfest in a different and pleasant ambience featuring nice German beer.
We had a great time together with our fellow Rotarian friends and guests. Apart from the members present, we had the pleasure to be together this evening with our Rotaractors and with fellow Rotarians from Rotary Club Sofia Center. Moreover we were honored by the visit regular guests of our club.
We all had a pleasant dinner together enjoying delicious traditional bratwurst, potatoes and cabbage in addition to the variety of German beer. It was great to meet each other in person, get to know new friends and spend quality time together.
At the end we took joint photos to keep the memories of our 2020 traditional Oktoberfest evening celebration.
Online regular meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International took place on Wednesday 21 October 2020. It was the club’s fourth meeting for this Rotarian season. The meeting was online, as it is planned in our plan and schedule for conducting meetings.
We had 12 club members attending. The meeting started with the announcement of the planned events of our club for the Rotarian. The first one is the traditional Oktoberfest of the club. The plans for 2021 include a Wine Fundraising Event in March. Another event would be the Petanque Tournament in April together with Rotary Club Samokov and Rotary Club Paris Agora from France. A Sitting Volleyball tournament, together with our sitting volleyball team Sofia Owls in May will increase awareness for this initiative of the club. Finally a French Night is planed together with the handover ceremony of the presidents of the club in June. All events will, of course, depend on the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Organizational matters discussed at Rotary Club Sofia International’s regular meeting in Hilton Sofia on 7 October 2020.
During the meeting there were updates on the progress of the important topics for the club. Improvements are already implemented on the back-end of our webpage. Additionally, the developments on the common project with Rotary Club Zurich International for our MED-Bul Project, for donation of medical equipment from Swiss Hospitals to hospitals in Bulgaria. Also, the positive developments of potential common projects with other clubs in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. We also discussed some other aspects of the club activities. Namely, the preparation for our annual fundraising events and the Christmas Parity of the club. These will be finalized during the next board meeting, later this month.
We also tried to find an optimal solution for our outside of Hilton Sofia monthly meetings. Likewise, how to harness and improve the effectiveness of our monthly online meetings, by inviting foreign clubs to join and discuss potential collaborative projects together.
Later, Mrs. Ani Hristova shared with the members her recollections from the visit to Rotary Club Sofia’s exhibition in Largo Sofia. The experience was very nice with numerous Rotary friends present. During her visit Ani used the opportunity to invite fellow Rotarians to our meetings. The exhibition is available at least for the next week, so everyone interested can visit.
Our friends Mrs. Hrsitina Malchevska and Mr. Yordan Dukov proposed to onboard two new initiatives. One for support for a school in the small town of Rakovitsa in North-West of Bulgaria. The other for support of the revival of the orienteering club in Elena. Actions are to be taken on both opportunities. All friends are, in the meantime, invited to help. For additional questions and comments, please, contact our club at info@rc-si.org.
We closed Rotary Club Sofia International’s regular meeting devoted to organizational matters.
Our next meeting will be held on 14 October 2020 in Hilton Sofia. Starting time is 18.45 and all members and friends are invited to join us.
Our members participated in a Garage Sale project of Rotary Club Ferney-Voltaire. The event took place on Sunday, 4 October 2020 in Ferney-Voltaire in France. It was a fundraising action of selling goods that the members of the club do not need any more. At the Garage Sale, or Vide Grenier in French, our friends were able to collect around 600 EUR.
Ferney-Voltaire is a small city situated in Eastern France. It is situated next to the border with Switzerland. It forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva. The club there was chartered by District 1910 in 1996. Today the club has 22 members.
Rotary Club Ferney-Voltaire organized this event for collection of funds for the organization Aide Gessienne. It helps deprived people in the region of Ferney-Voltaire. This assistance is especially needed now during the pandemic times.
Inna and Claude Badan, Rotary Club Sofia International members, participated in the Garage Sale project. Inna and Claude contribute to the fundraising activities of Rotary Club Ferney-Voltaire not for the first time. You can recall their involvements here and here.
Rotary Club Sofia International members wish the fellows of Rotary Club Ferney-Voltaire health and prosperity. We also hope they will realize many more successful fundraising projects. Our friends Inna and Claude are always there to help, when they are in the region.
Exhibition What Rotarians Did for Their City by Rotary Club Sofia opened on 1 October 2020. It is hosted in the exhibition hall under the domes of Largo in Sofia and is accessible to visitors.
The exhibition presents 18 posters. They show the contribution of the oldest Rotary club in Bulgaria – Rotary Club Sofia – and its members, to the development of our capital. The main projects of the club are presented. These are related to better education and literacy, protection of children’s and mother’s health, work with young people, prevention of significant diseases, landscaping, support of science and culture, improvement of road safety, assistance provided to the cultural institutions of Sofia municipality.
First official meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International for the new Rotarian year was held on 30 September 2020 in Hilton Sofia. This was also the first official meeting of Mr. Marc Bouzy as President of the club for 2020/2021 Rotarian year.
15 club members attended. All were excited for the start of the new Rotarian year. During the meeting we discussed plans and organizational matters for the coming season. Some of these:
Updated meeting schedule with one online meeting and one meeting outside Hilton Sofia each month;
Regular meetings with representatives of our Rotaract club;
Date for the elections of the club;
Fundraising events of the club;
Actions on the improvement of the club’s online visibility;
Plans for international cooperation with foreign clubs.
Later, our Past President presented a copy of the Rotary Citation 2019-2020. The President of Rotary International awarded it to our club for helping Rotary connect the world. Only 18 clubs in our District received such a citation for the past Rotarian year.
After that, our guest Mr. Stefan Hristov, member of Rotary Club Zurich International, shared some of the projects, which their club is doing. He proposed to make a common project with Rotary Club Sofia International in the field of healthcare.
Then, Mrs. Ani Hristova recounted of a project by the Association Children with Onco-Hematologic Diseases. We, as a club, support them for many years. They have successfully finished and officially inaugurated, three weeks ago, a center in Opitsvet. Its main purpose is helping during the recovery of kids who overcame an onco-hematologic disease. The event was attended by many people, including representatives of the municipality, a few ministers, and members of out club. The center will function during the whole year. It is the first such venue on the Balkans and the 8th in the world.
Before the official closing of the meeting, the President invited the members to volunteer to hold presentations during one our next meetings.
The fellowship, then, continued with further discussions in the lobby bar of the hotel.
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An online meeting with Rotary Club Hod-Hacarmel, Israel, with President Mr. David Afek took place on 26 January 2021. The President and several members of Rotary Club Sofia International attended the meeting. The ICC Israel Bulgaria Committee Coordinator and members of the committee also participated. The District Governor of Rotary Israel together with a Bulgarian born lecturer spoke about the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Ronald McDonald Foundation presentation at a regular online meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International took place on Wednesday, 11 November 2020. It was presented by our friend and President Elect Mrs. Hristina Malchevska.
Regular 2in1 meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International on Wednesday 4 November 2020. The meeting was held in Hilton Sofia and online simultaneously. It was the first of its kind mixed type of meeting, due to the COVID 19 situation.
The traditional Oktoberfest of Rotary Club Sofia International this year was on 28 October 2020. It took place in a nice cozy restaurant – 
Online regular meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International took place on Wednesday 21 October 2020. It was the club’s fourth meeting for this Rotarian season. The meeting was online, as it is planned in our plan and schedule for conducting meetings.
Organizational matters discussed at Rotary Club Sofia International’s regular meeting in Hilton Sofia on 7 October 2020.
Our members participated in a Garage Sale project of 
Exhibition What Rotarians Did for Their City by Rotary Club Sofia opened on 1 October 2020. It is hosted in the exhibition hall under the domes of Largo in Sofia and is accessible to visitors.
First official meeting of Rotary Club Sofia International for the new Rotarian year was held on 30 September 2020 in Hilton Sofia. This was also the first official meeting of Mr. Marc Bouzy as President of the club for 2020/2021 Rotarian year.
