Dear Readers and Friends of ‘We Hear You’, we are about to celebrate the Site’s jubilee. We’ve organized a unique Event to mark the occasion – a joint exhibition of the 8 deaf artists we’ve told you about through the years in our Art category. The exhibition will be held in Contrast Gallery, Sofia, from 2^nd till 4^th of November. The Anniversary Event is supported by NGO ‘Dunavsko Siyanie’– Ruse, whose partnership we cherish. That’s going to be one of the most significant points in Sofia’s program of cultural events for the exhibition is the first of its kind to be set up in Bulgaria.

Dear Readers and Friends of ‘We Hear You’, our Site is about to turn 10 years of existence at the end of October. That’s more than enough time for a small path to become a bridge between the hearing and the deaf. To mark the occasion, a video was shot on 10^th of August to announce the upcoming event. 

Today’s guest of We Hear You is an interpreter translating from and into sign language. She plays a multitude of roles in her life. Mother of two boys, she’s also a specialized security officer and a sign language interpreter. She’s a qualified stenographer typist and document administrator, but she also has a degree in Pantomime as she’d graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) program in Physical theatre. She holds a brown belt in Shotokan Karate Do. She’s an experienced sign language interpreter who’ll tell us about sign language, the job of a sign language interpreter and the challenges in this area. Let me introduce you to Kameliya Angelova!

Dear Readers, you can sense the excitement of an upcoming anniversary. Children can’t wait to celebrate their birthdays. They anticipate all the emotions and surprises surrounding the event, but the real deal is a birthday is a wonderful occasion to share moments with a good number of friends. The 10^th birthday of We Hear You will be celebrated in October, so we’ve started the preparations from the very beginning of the year. Here we are, all grown-up and ready to share more surprises with you. The first surprise will be visible at first sight – the website has a brand new layout. As you know, every transformation starts from the inside.

Yаmbоl іѕ gеttіng рrеttіеr аnd thе tоwn’ѕ раrk іѕ turnеd іntо а brіght-соlоrеd tоwn оf kukеrі. Тhіѕ уеаr’ѕ ХХth еdіtіоn оf thе Іntеrnаtіоnаl mummеr'ѕ fеѕtіvаl Кukеrlаndіа gаthеrеd аrоund  аn еvеn grеаtеr numbеr оf mummеrѕ thаn thе рrеvіоuѕ еdіtіоnѕ. Аbоut 90 kukеr trоuреѕ frоm 17 rеgіоnѕ оf Вulgаrіа реrfоrmеd аnсіеnt Ѕurvа rіtuаlѕ јumріng аnd dаnсіng аrоund wіth 30 000 bеllѕ оf dіffеrеnt ѕіzе оn thеіr bеltѕ ассоmраnіеd bу bеаtіng drumѕ. Тhе аnnіvеrѕаrу еdіtіоn оf thе fеѕtіvаl wаѕ hеld frоm 28th Fеbruаrу tо 3rd Маrсh. Іt wаѕ а соlоrful ѕресtасlе whеrе fеаrful аnd funnу ѕіghtѕ соmbіnе. Тhе соlоrful gаrlаndѕ аll аrоund thе tоwn сrеаtеd а wоndеrful аtmоѕрhеrе wіth а ѕеnѕаtіоn оf quіrkіnеѕѕ іn thе аіr. Рlеntу оf асtіvіtіеѕ wеrе оffеrеd thrоughоut thе fоur fеѕtіvаl dауѕ. Yоu соuld ѕее сhіldrеn’ѕ wоrkѕhорѕ аnd соntеѕtѕ аѕ wеll аѕ аnіmаtеd mоvіеѕ оn kukеr lеgеndѕ. Тhеrе wаѕ а раrаdе оf kukеr’ѕ mаѕkѕ еасh оf whісh wаѕ thrее mеtrеѕ іn hеіght. Vаrіоuѕ thеmаtіс ехhіbіtіоnѕ wеrе ореn fоr vіѕіоrѕ. Тhеrе wеrе аlѕо ѕресіаl mаrkеtрlасеѕ аrоund thе tоwn. Yоu соuld wаtсh thе mаѕquеrаdе gаmеѕ whеrе а lаrgе numbеr оf раrtісіраntѕ frоm Вulgаrіа, Rоmаnіа, Ѕеrbіа, Nоrth Масеdоnіа аnd Коrеа wеrе dаnсіng аrоund. Yаmbоl wаѕ а trulу соlоrful рlасе wіth ѕріrіt-lіftіng еvеntѕ hарреnіng аrоund. 

Dear Readers, we are meeting Mirela Ventzislavova once again. You might remember her second solo exhibition by the name “Caressed charms” took place in the Ritual hall of Yambol to mark the World Deaf Day.

Today, 7^th of December 2018, a joint exhibition by the name “The Bridges of Friendship” will be hosted at the Exhibition Hall of Ruse at 6PM. Artworks by talented Mirela Ventzislavova and fellow artists Elitsa Kaloyanova (Bulgaria) and Ina Stana Rebigan (Romania) will be on display until the end of December. 

Dear Readers, this year’s World Beauty Contest Miss & Mister Deaf Stars (MMDS) took place in Caserta, Italy, from 19^th to 29^th of October 2018. Foundation “Deaf Unlimited Bulgaria” was among the organizations hosting the prestigious event. Part of its activities involves preparing deaf Bulgarian models for International Beauty Contests and aiding them in their participation. The MMDS event got Bulgarian candidates Yummyugul Sally (Miss Deaf Bulgaria 2018) and Nikolay Korchev (Mister Deaf Bulgaria 2018) measure up their beauty and skills against fellow models from around the world. Both of them were raised in the families of hearing people. They also strongly advocate for the legal recognition of Bulgarian Sign Language. They are Ambassadors of the Sign Language in Caserta, Italy. They are convinced that participating in fashion shows is a wonderful way of introducing the unconventional beauty of the gesturing hands to the world.

You can’t help but notice the big smile she’s giving you even if it’s the first time you both have met. You can sense her positive outlook and extreme vitality which create a friendly atmosphere around. We’d like to ask her about the popular and tremendously successful show she’s been hosting in the social media for five years now (Boryana  Topchieva Show). She’s occupied with plenty of activities being a vlogger, a translater, an athlete, a show-woman, a traveler, a parent and … the author of an upcoming book! But I’m not telling you anything more about her. You’ll see for yourself now that we’re letting Boryana Topchieva speak about it all.

The moment you touch something … it starts speaking to you in shapes, textures, temperature. It’s telling you about a world well beyond the one words can describe. Your fingers can respond to the touch with gentle movements, caressing or powerful pressure. They can draw things while making explanations. They could be the pencil writing stories as well as the rubber erasing them to tell more tales. The stories you write touching human skin are indeed the Story of Life of deafblind people. Their sensitivity is the page you’ve been writing your stories on which can handle any story told. It could well be the pencil writing out the description of the World beyond the line of Vision. Sensitivity is speaking out at the workshop on the Alternative Ways of Communication with Deafblind People held by the NADbBg from 12^th May to 13^th May 2018.

Dear Readers of We Hear You, you might remember last year’s event in Plovdiv devoted to the demonstration of ways of communication with deafblind people. The Norwegian methods sparked the interest of a great deal of people, so they asked to be taught how to use them in practical situations. The National Association of the Deafblind in Bulgaria (NADbBg) won a grant in 2012, which allowed it to host an education event for interpreters of deafblind people. Unfortunately, just five professionals were given the opportunity to learn the alternative ways of communication mentioned above. The number of knowledgeable professionals prepared to work with deafblind people is far from being enough to meet the needs of the deafblind people in Bulgaria. What’s more, they’ve never worked with children before. But this is what’s going to happen now.