“Write in Cyrillic!!!”

Local Initiative
“Write in Cyrillic!!!”

 

8 September is the International Literacy Day. Very few people have heard of that, that is why we, from “The Change is in You” Association, wanted to remind everybody that language is an essential part of a nation’s identity. Language is what preserved us as a nation in the years of slavery, what kept our ancestors strong in difficult moments and what made them feel elate. When people craved for literacy in the past, they were not given any opportunities. Now when we are offered countless opportunities, we do not want to develop.
On that special day we wanted to make people reconsider their values and priorities. Why do Bulgarians use Latin letters when writing in Bulgarian? Why is it modern to borrow words from English if we have even better terms in our own language? Does this make us look smarter? Why do not we use commas and definite articles correctly and why is the unique letter “Ъ” dying?
All these reasons made us start an initiative to support the Cyrillic alphabet. With the help of volunteers, kids from the local kindergartens and the Centre for Social Rehabilitation and Integration, we coloured 500 Bulgarian flags with the motto of the initiative and gave them out as presents to the people from the town. We reminded them how important it is to be literate even when communicating with friends or in the social networks. Some interviews with kids, youths and representatives of the Municipality, the Police, the media and the business were taken.
“The Change is in You” Association is thankful to all the people that took part in the initiative and embraced it. Many people wished us luck and we know that we cannot change everybody, but we believe that even if one person joins our “Cyrillic alphabet” team, this is a huge step to a better future.