By Aylin Dzhafer | Head of Gifts and Partnerships
As the 2025–2026 academic year begins, we’re proud to share a powerful update: five determined Roma women and girls have just started their first semester as nursing and midwifery students!
Meet Fabiana from Kyustendil, Fize from Burgas, and Ina, Asya, and Stefani from Montana. These young women joined our Home-Visitors Scholarship Program earlier this year. With support from you—our donors—they spent six months preparing intensively for university entrance exams. Today, they are one step closer to their dreams of becoming healthcare professionals.
Why This Matters
Bulgaria faces a critical shortage of nurses. According to the Bulgarian Association of Healthcare Professionals, our country needs 30,000 more nurses to meet minimum care standards. Yet, the current workforce is aging, and recruitment remains a major challenge.
At the same time, Roma women represent an incredible source of untapped potential. Many of the women we work with are the first in their families to attend university. Some are young school-leavers, while others are mothers or women in their 40s and 50s—motivated to serve their communities as trained nurses and midwives.
This is not just an education project. It’s a response to a healthcare crisis, and a model for social justice.
Our Impact So Far
Since launching the program in 2020, together with your support:
Over 50 women from more than 20 towns and villages have received scholarships, prep courses, and mentorship.
19 graduates are already working in Bulgarian hospitals.
Participants benefit from a full support system:
Annual scholarship
Mentorship from university professors and medical professionals
Volunteering in Roma communities
Peer gatherings for learning and support
Each of these women is a role model—proving to other girls and families that education can open doors.
What We Need Now
As always, summer and fall are times of high pressure for our team. We receive urgent inquiries from newly admitted Roma students hoping to begin university but unsure how to afford it. Right now, we’re working hard to raise funds for:
Tuition and living stipends for the incoming class
Continued mentorship and support for current students
Preparation and outreach for the 2026 applicant cohort
Your gift goes beyond paying for school—it builds a pipeline of qualified professionals, strengthens communities, and helps close long-standing equity gaps in education and healthcare.
Thank You
We’re deeply grateful for your ongoing commitment to this work. With each donation, you're not only helping a young woman realize her dream—you’re helping entire communities become healthier, more just, and more hopeful.
Stay with us. Share the campaign. Keep believing in their potential.
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