Press Record: A Year of Volunteering at E-volution Media — and a Lot Accomplished
August 8, 2026 - Stories
For nearly a year, three international volunteers turned Veliko Tarnovo, its people and its stories into content for E-volution Media. The project came to an end in late July 2026, but the videos created by Fatima from Morocco, Zilan from Türkiye and Arsine from Armenia remain as three different perspectives on the city and on the issues that matter to young people.
Fatima Ahajdane, Zilan Duman and Arsine Baghumyan came to Bulgaria as volunteers through the European Solidarity Corps. Fatima and Zilan stayed for almost a year, while Arsine spent around ten months in the country. During that time, the camera gradually became one of their main ways of discovering Bulgaria.
They filmed, interviewed, edited and searched for stories. Sometimes that meant talking to university students; at other times, going out into the streets, attending a cultural event or looking for the story behind a place that people pass by every day.
What Does Gen Z Think?
Among the most interesting pieces produced during the project were two encounters with students from the University of Veliko
Tarnovo, both focused on Generation Z.
Instead of trying to explain what “young people want”, the volunteers simply handed them the microphone. The students spoke about their expectations, their future, the challenges they face and the opportunities available to their generation.
The same approach can be seen in another video, “Bulgarians Speak Out on the European Values”, in which people were asked what European values mean to them. The result is not an institutional explanation of Europe, but a collection of personal views and perspectives.
From the Protest to Samovodska Charshiya
The volunteers also followed the events taking place around them.
They covered a public protest in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgarian holidays and cultural events, while also exploring some of the smaller stories of the city.
In a video about Samovodska Charshiya, Zilan speaks with local shopkeepers about its history, traditional crafts and the people who continue to keep one of Veliko Tarnovo’s most recognisable places alive.
Another story takes her into the nature around the city in search of medicinal plants and their traditional uses.
Music also found its place in the team’s work. The volunteers filmed the unusual encounter between Bulgarian and Egyptian musicians in EGBG Poetic Trio — an example of how a local cultural event can become a story about the meeting of different cultures.
From Veliko Tarnovo to Romania
One of the projects took the team beyond Bulgaria, to Râmnicu Sărat, Romania.
There, Fatima and Arsine worked on an interview with Florin Ceparu, President of ONYX, discussing the role of young people, education, leadership and European opportunities. The video was published under the title “Why Investing in Romanian Youth Today Will Change Europe Tomorrow”.
The meeting was not only a journalistic assignment, but also an opportunity to establish a new connection between E-volution Media and ONYX, with the potential for future partnership and cooperation.
The volunteers also had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo, present their work and speak about their experience as young people who had chosen to spend a significant part of their lives in Bulgaria.
When Volunteers Become Authors
The most important result of the project cannot easily be measured simply by counting the number of videos produced.
During their months in Veliko Tarnovo, Fatima, Zilan and Arsine gradually moved from being participants in a volunteering project to becoming creators of their own media content.
Across different productions, they took on different roles — interviewers, camera operators, editors and, importantly, the people deciding which stories were worth telling.
This is exactly why their work covers such a wide range of topics: Gen Z, European values, protests, culture, nature, music, local
crafts, international encounters and everyday life in Veliko Tarnovo.
Towards the end of the project, we also turned the camera towards the volunteers themselves. The new E-volution Media Stories series explores the personal side of volunteering — where they came from, how they experienced Bulgaria and what they will carry with them after returning home.
The project ended in July 2026. The videos, however, remain on the E-volution Media YouTube channel as a small archive of Veliko Tarnovo seen through the eyes of three young people who, only a year earlier, barely knew the city.
The E-volution Media project was implemented with the support of the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps.
Some of the videos created during the project can be found in the Media section of the E-volution Media website, as well as on our YouTube channel — and don’t forget to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@evolutionmedia-RLH/videos
You can also discover the personal stories of the volunteers in the E-volution Media Stories section of our website: https://e-volution.media/stories/
