Култура

Dr. Nevena Gereva is the chairman of the local structure at the Sakhara Association - an NGO that was recently established in Velingrad. We talk with her about the main ideas and goals of "Sahara", about how the association differs from other associations related to the highly complicated Bulgarian-Libyan relations in recent years:
- Dr. Gereva, what is the Sakhara Association?
- Association "Sahara" was established in 1998 as a non-governmental non-profit organization of people who have worked in Libya and hold on the Bulgarian-Libyan relations and their development in the future. Chairman is Mrs. Atanaska Petkova - a lawyer by education, who has worked for over 5 years in Bulgarian oil companies in Libya as a lawyer-consult. In the leadership of the association there are also Bulgarians and Libyans. What they have in common is that they have an idea for improving and deepening the relations between Bulgaria and Libya in all areas of life - culture, economic cooperation, science, education, tourism, healthcare, etc. Sakhara members are people with good attitude towards the Libyan state. Because in addition to being on a gourbet in Libya, they learned a lot about the Arabs and their culture, about human relationships. Gourbet in Libya, and abroad in general, is not only an opportunity for material gains, but also a school - an opportunity to communicate with other people, with another religion, with other customs and culture. By establishing the Sakhara Association, its members were united by the desire for Bulgaria not to lose its position as a partner of Libya. The founders remember the time when we had a good business in Libya, from which both sides profited: in the oil industry, agrarian complexes, chemical, food industry, in many sites in construction. People who have participated in the management of Bulgarian companies know the benefits of this cooperation and believe that several governments are losing the positions won in Libya because of shortsightedness. Crossing out Gaddafi as a totalitarian and pro-socialist type of leader, they also decided that Bulgaria should not work with Libya. The Chairman of the Sakhara Association Mrs. Petkova likes to say "Libya without Bulgaria can", but there are areas of cooperation in which we would definitely win. The Bulgarians in Libya are very good builders, doctors, nurses, Libyans sincerely like us.
- Do we still, in this dramatic situation with our convicted nurses, like us in Libya?
- I worked in Libya until the spring of 2001, when my family and I returned to Bulgaria. Since February 1998 we knew that there were Bulgarian medics in custody. We learned it from an Arab who on the street asked us if we knew what Bulgarians had done in Benghazi. The official information on this case in Libya came out much later - 1 year after the medics were detained, in Bulgaria people learned about the case earlier.
The Sakhara Association was not established as some kind of response to the case against our medics, but rather as a call not to put the Bulgarian-Libyan links under one denominator. And the decision in the case of the Bulgarian medics to leave to the justice system, which is the more normal end, rather than inciting hostile relations between people. The point of our association is to find a bridge between Bulgaria and Libya, to restore cooperation, to learn each other's lives and cultures, to work on projects of common interest.
- And what is the position of "Sahara" on the guilt or innocence of our compatriots convicted on the AIDS case in Libya?
- Our position is clear: we are absolutely confident that our medics are not to blame and that all studies and evidence so far speak of a hospital-acquired infection. The Sakhara Association is preparing a visit of three members of the leadership who have signed up for a meeting with the nurses and for a visit to Gaddafi. At the same time, we are sympathetic to the suffering of Libyan families whose children are infected with the AIDS virus. We understand their pain and sympathize with those who lost their children or care for their doomed children.
It should be known that ordinary people in Libya are well-meaning and grateful to the Bulgarians working there, especially highly appreciate the fact that we are there with our families. But if they are suggested that the Bulgarians are to blame in this case, this also reflects on the other Bulgarians in Libya. For example, the management of the hospital where I worked knew very well that there were Bulgarian medics imprisoned, but did not change their attitude towards me. If they know you well, in a situation like this, Libyans even get better. Because they insist on justice: whoever is guilty - to be punished, and whoever works deserves their respect. - So the main idea of the Sakhara Association on the case with our medics is to try for good? - For the success of associations like ours it is very important to know well the psychology of the Arabs and especially of the Libyan society. After ours, two more associations were established as a response to the degrading treatment of Bulgarian nurses. The present moment is very complicated, for example, excessive efforts to give money to AIDS-stricken children can be interpreted as an admission that we are guilty and guilty. Our reaction must be one of respect for Libyans as a nation, with confidence in judicial institutions and with a demand for full publicity and transparency in the case. Bulgarians and Libyans should get to know each other as peoples and find new fields of cooperation.
- And all of us, the Bulgarian society as a whole, have we done and are doing enough to hear our civil position on the case in Libya and to help the convicted sisters?
- The problem is that in the first months after their detention, not enough was done, as Filipinos, Poles, Bosnians were able to do. Now whatever is being done is a delayed reaction and the end of this case will be unknown to the last. A lot of time has been lost since 1998. In the process, both foreign policy and domestic political problems of the current regime are intertwined - it is even claimed that the essence of the process is to discredit it, there are extreme fundamentalist wings for which all foreigners should be out of Libya. The first Bulgarian reaction of sympathy and empathy to the tragedy of the families of children with AIDS in Benghazi was late and did not fully show Bulgaria's real concern for the fate of these children and their families. Now, in the case of Libya, we do a lot, even sometimes too much, of trying to dictate the court's decision. But in fact, our efforts should be to the court to reach the real evidence of the sisters' innocence, and the decision itself should be left to the judges. No large country would accept being dictated what to decide.
I don't think there's much chance of acquittals for the nurses. I believe they will return to Bulgaria, but convicted also after paid compensation or an exchange with the Libyan convicted for Lockerbie. I hope I'm a bad prophet! And most importantly: let the truth be known - that our nurses are innocent! Elena Baeva

Dear readers of the newspaper "Tempo" at www.velingdad.com, If you read the newspaper from abroad or another city in Bulgaria, you probably have different and interesting points of view about what is happening in Velingrad. He offers you to share your ideas for the development of Velingrad by writing to us at e-mail: tempovelingrad.com. Your good idea will be published in the newspaper as a kind of Christmas gift for the citizens of Velingrad. And if you want to especially congratulate someone in Velingrad for Christmas - write to us! We look forward to your ideas and greetings by 16 December 2005. Tempo