Peace Corps mission transforms a piece of Bulgaria

Date: 11/17/2008

By Natasha Clark

Assistant Managing Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW Brendan Duprey has the satisfaction of returning home knowing that he accomplished everything he set out to do when he left his hometown to travel with the Peace Corps more than two years ago.

As a part of the Peace Corps Masters International Program, Duprey was stationed in Garmen, Bulgaria, where he worked in the Community Organization and Development sector. While he had a strong focus in environmental affairs, he also worked closely with the municipality on infrastructure development.

Fresh from his return, Duprey chatted about the resource center and programs he helped implement during his stay. It was nearly a year since he last spoke with The Reminder from Bulgaria while he was in the midst of fundraising to make an environmental resource center at Saint Kiril and Metodi School in Garmen a reality. The center provides educational training, activities and awareness for its students. Classes will be taught with regards to environmental protection and conservation.

Thanks to $1,000 in local donations, $1,000 from the Peace Corps fund and through local non-governmental organizations, as well as friends and family, the center officially opened in June. Six students, three teachers, Duprey and others gave life and personality to an underused and dreary room. The room houses up to 40 documentary films from the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and National Geographic. Confiscated wood was then hand-crafted by native woodworkers for tables and chairs. The resource center also stores natural foods and recycled materials.

"What I wanted to do was work with environmental protection and develop a good program to benefit the Bulgarian people," Duprey said. "It was difficult at the beginning. I was able to accomplish what I wanted to and beyond."

In addition to the center, Duprey was able to help the municipality communicate in a more conducive manner by establishing a cultural center committee and teaching officials and employees how to use Microsoft software such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

"[Now] a representative from each cultural center meets monthly," Duprey said. "My work was to help them realize each individual has something to offer and to work collectively as a community."

He helped develop cross-border tourism and promotional materials for bordering municipalities such as Bosilovo and Macedonia, produced mountain guide courses and helped with eco-trails. His wide range of activities granted him the opportunity to also create three more centers: Health and Tourism, Young Farmers and Media.

Duprey said his time in the Peace Corps gave him "a sense of accomplishment. It helped me realize the importance of volunteerism."

Now he is gearing up to head back to graduate school at Bard College to finish up his masters degree in Environmental Science.

"Thank you to everyone who donated money. I really do feel the Peace Corps is something that we really need in 2008. Can we end with a quote?" Duprey asked just before his departure. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Of course, he knows this first hand. There's a group of people in Bulgaria to attest to it.