Trust

Celia Irving is starting her third year as an International Relations and Modern History student at the University of St Andrews. She spent six weeks working with the TSA team this summer. In the reflection below, she shares what she learned — and what surprised her — during her time with us. 

Five months before I arrived in Sofia, I reached out to the Trust for Social Achievement, interested in volunteering as an intern. But I lacked one key qualification: I don’t speak Bulgarian. Still, TSA took me on: not because of what I already knew, but because of what I was eager to learn. The personal and professional experience I gained can’t be fully described, but I hope this reflection is a start.

TSA on the Day-to-Day

Naturally, I worried that without the language or sector experience, I wouldn’t be able to contribute meaningfully. But from the very first day, and every day that followed over the next six weeks, I wasn’t sat twiddling my thumbs. When I didn’t have work to do at my desk, TSA provided opportunities to attend various events and visit Roma neighborhoods across the country. Be it at the Sofia Pride Business Forum, or a visit to Kazanluk, I absorbed insights and context about the systemic, intersectional challenges TSA addresses. On just my second day, I joined TSA staff working on the Nurse-Family Partnership, alongside a visiting delegation from the Latvian government, on a visit to the largest Roma neighborhood in Sofia. Three days later, I was in Veliko Tarnovo for the annual Roma children's “Open Heart” festival with a different team.

Although I wasn’t a full-time staff member, TSA made a consistent effort to fully integrate me into the team. By the end of my first week, I was convinced I'd never remember all thirty names on the TSA team. But by the end of my internship, I didn’t just know the names – I had conversations and shared experiences to go with each one. I thoroughly enjoyed every lunch with colleagues, where they generously shared their work, stories, and culture. They were there when I tried “Tarator” for the first time, gave me Bulgarian travel recommendations, and even helped me track down a fridge repair person.

Insights and Learnings 

Beyond what I learned from my own work and travels, watching my colleagues in action offered invaluable lessons about resilience and the realities of working in the NGO sector. The fruits of their labor are built on years of dedication, countless setbacks, constant readjustment, and behind-the-scenes innovation.

I gained the most insights from researching and conversing with colleagues working on dual purpose initiatives: designed to empower Roma individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and encourage them to return to their communities to actively serve them, both in addressing health disparities and as role models. Two standout examples are the Home-Visitors Scholarship Program (associated with the Nurse-Family Partnership model), and the Scholarship support for Roma Students Enrolled in Medical Studies. It is this model of project that I found particularly inspiring as a powerful cycle of impact. 

The Housing and Zoning Program is another project that especially struck me. Like most TSA initiatives, the program is not only innovative but deeply multifaceted. At first glance, the idea of preserving existing Roma homes in informal settlements while increasing their access to public utilities (including water, electricity, and sewage) appears contradictory, if not impossible, based on the legal framework. But TSA addresses this challenge by working with municipalities to amend zoning plans, enabling residents to legally purchase the land they’ve lived on for generations. The program accomplishes something rare and notable: it ensures utility access without displacement and empowers Roma families as legal homeowners. It boosts families’ security, expands municipal tax bases, and attracts infrastructure and jobs – all stakeholders win under this model.

But through the opportunities for travel and fieldwork that TSA provided, I was also able to see the lived realities behind the data and the projects. One such surprise or unexpected insight that I might not have learned about otherwise is the strong yet often overlooked link between Bulgarian Roma communities and the United Kingdom through seasonal work.  Particularly pre-Brexit, tens of thousands of Roma seasonal workers were granted visas to work in the horticulture sector. Struggling to find remunerable work domestically – a product of domestic systemic discrimination and prejudices – the UK has become a destination country for migration for many Roma laborers. The dependence of the British food supply chain on Roma labor through this seasonal worker's scheme became particularly apparent with post-Brexit labor shortages. But this places the seasonal workers at risk of exploitation, given their increasingly precarious and uncertain legal status in post-Brexit Britain, as well as significant discrimination in employment, education, housing, and health. I knew vaguely about this but witnessed the ramifications of it when visiting a Roma neighborhood in Kazanluk. Many of the children, assuming we were visiting from an NGO abroad, immediately said “Hi!” amongst other English phrases or pleasantries. Some spoke English quite well, a product of their parents having worked in the UK and presumably some English media. Those were quiet, but potent reminders of how the transnational labor mobility of Roma laborers impacts the sociocultural realities of Roma families back in Eastern Europe.

These experiences – both in and out of the office – provided me with understandings and a perspective I couldn’t gain anywhere else, with exposure to root problems and the progressive solutions that can ameliorate them. It reminded me that tangible, real impact is hardly ever linear or swift, requiring approaches that are, at a minimum, well-thought out and fueled by persistence.  

For those considering volunteering or interning with TSA, I can't recommend it enough. You don’t need to speak Bulgarian or have previous experience in the non-profit sector. Whatever your background, TSA thoughtfully adapts your experience based on their needs and your interests, skills, and curiosities, making the internship a truly collaborative and rewarding experience.  

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