Mr. Brown, you’ve been working here as a Director of World Learning, what kind of projects were you involved with?
The project with World Learning, which is an American Non-Governmental Organization, was funded by the USAID (United States Agency for International Development), and was focused on training and study tours. It lasted around 14 years and during this period we sent more than 3 000 thousand Bulgarians to other countries around the world, in Europe, in Latin America, and other places with the idea that they would learn something useful about specific sectors in those countries and than come back to Bulgaria, and apply what they have learned in different kinds of reforms.

Now you are director of another centre, BCDT. What are you focusing on? Could you tell us about your last project?
BCDT is the Bulgarian Centre for Development and Training, and it’s a kind of continuation of the work that we’ve been doing before, not exactly a continuation, some things we are continuing, some things we are changing, but basically we are still involved with training and education. We are interested in supporting vulnerable groups, marginalised groups, and supporting education in general. At the moment, our biggest project has to do with training English teachers, in other words, preparing new people to work as English teachers. And we have some very special funding for these courses, to give scholarships to Roma English teachers.

But why exactly Roma minorities, why you are focusing on them?
That’s not such an easy question to answer, it’s a very big question. I think that most foreigners who come through Bulgaria see very quickly the big differences between the Roma community and other communities in Bulgaria.  Of course, Bulgarians who are not Roma also have a difficult time in some places, but there are just such huge and obvious problems with the poverty level and educational level in the Roma community, and even after fifteen years in Bulgaria, these problems continue to be one of the most interesting things for me. I like challenges, and I find the Roma culture very interesting. So, I’m glad to have the opportunity to try to do something, to change the situation.

What language are you using when you speak with them?
Only few Roma speak English, so with them and with a lot of people in Bulgaria I have to speak in Bulgarian. For me that is not a big problem, I like speaking Bulgarian.

If you have the possibility to change something in Bulgaria, what would it be?
I would like to see Bulgarians being a little bit less negative about things. I would like to see people be a little bit nicer to each other in general. Of course, if I had a magic wand, I would love to give to all the pensioners in Bulgaria lots and lots of money, so that they could enjoy their retirement. But, I also have to say that I’ve been here a very long time, and it’s much easier for me to say positive things about Bulgaria than negative. I think it’s a great place, I’m very glad to be here and I’m happy to have the chance to invest part of my life in this country.

If you have to recommend to friends some places in Bulgaria to visit, what would they be?
That’s a very dangerous question, because if I mention a specific place, then friends who are living in other places will attack me. But I have to say, when I have free time, mostly I enjoy travelling around the Rhodopes and the Pirin Mountains. My ideal journey, it’s to travel from village to village and experimenting different kinds of Patatnik.

Are the Bulgarians very different from the Americans or do you think we have a lot of things in common?
One of the things that I’m involved in is intercultural training, so I could answer that question for a very, very long time. But I’ll say that, yes, Bulgarians and Americans have a lot in common, of course there are many types of Bulgarians, many different types of Americans, so you can also find many, many differences. What attracts me to living in Bulgaria and to life abroad, are the differences between people. It’s interesting to me to be with people who are different from my own life and my own culture, and my own values. One big difference is the emphasis that Bulgarians place on family, and friends and social networks. Bulgarians always find time, no matter how busy they are, no matter what problems they have at work, they always find time for family and friends, and a couple of hours at the cafe, what I think I haven’t seen so often in New York, and these are really positive differences.

What’s your impression from Bulgarian society today?
Well, obviously I like Bulgaria very much, if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t have stayed for so many years. Since 1991, when I first came to Bulgaria, there has been an incredible evolution in things in Bulgaria. Lots of things have changed, but some things have not changed quickly enough. I think that in some sectors the service that people provide for customers, for clients, it’s not a very happy service, but at the same time that kind of problem is much, much better than fifteen years ago. And really, it’s generally a pleasure for a foreigner to come and do regularly things here in Bulgaria.

What is your message to the Bulgarians?
Congratulations for being accepted into the EU! Think positively and good luck!