Bread that unites ” “

In the digital era of social networks kneading bread seems but a memory of the distant past. However, while providing a pleasant feeling and being a useful pastime, that activity could become an occasion to meet, get to know each other and share moments of socialization, boosting relations between people belonging to different cultures and nationalities. The occasion was provided by the Bread Houses, a social and cultural initiative launched in Bulgaria in 2009, on a project by young Orthodox researcher Nadezda Savova, who believes that “bread unites people from all over the world”. A credible statement, given her travels across 75 countries, which earned her the 2012 Traveler award by National Geographic magazine. Savova’s inspiration for the Bread Houses came about during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, when she discovered that it is the meaning of Bethlehem in Hebrew. Today, the initiative of the “International Council of Cultural Centres” non-profit organization is active in over twenty cities in Bulgaria and across 14 nations, from the United States to Tajikistan. During kneading. Each piece of dough is made with five basic ingredients: flour, water, yeast, salt and sugar. “Before beginning, we explain the symbolic value of each ingredient in life and social relations”, Nadezda Savova told SirEurope. She added: “Salt and sugar represent moments of sadness and joy. We thus point out that both are necessary to reach a balance”. Children are those who are mostly impressed. Once back home many of them ask their parents to make bread. It’s an instructive and enjoyable way to play. Every meeting has a different theme to highlight basic values such as love, faith and patience. Once the bread loafs are out of the oven, participants taste the bread of the person near them. In this way “people get to know each other, learn to share, and be together”. Art therapy for the disabled. To make bread is also a form of art therapy when it involves disabled children or adults, as well as orphans, refugees or other disadvantaged or marginalized groups. “These people feel very proud and satisfied since they made something with their own hands”, Savova said. “Bread therapy” is recognized as a useful and innovative initiative by psychologists, who used to employ clay for the same purpose. To pass on to people in difficulty social skills such as communication, self-esteem and self-empowerment is also among the objectives of the Bread House. As an experiment, a bakery shop was opened in the Bulgarian city of Gabrovo, whose workers are orphan youths. The purpose is to hire them on a permanent basis and develop the activity to ensure their self-maintenance. Mobile ovens for Syrian refugees. There is also a mobile version of the Bread Houses, which consist in old cookhouses that have been adapted for use in Syrian refugees camps located in the south areas of Bulgaria. “Their traditional bread, the pita, is similar to flat bread – said Savova – which makes Syrians feel at home”. Once a month, along with other Bulgarians in the refugee centres, Savova and their staff knead the loafs with refugees as a way to promote their integration. The bond with religion. Since bread is not only a basic food but it also becomes the body of Christ in the Eucharist, the Bread Houses also bake prosphora – a small loaf of leavened bread used in Orthodox liturgy, distributed to the faithful at the end of the celebration. Thus during the meeting also catechism takes place while kneading the bread, with the participation of Orthodox priests who underline the role of bread in the Scriptures, in particular in the evangelical parables. “In poor regions especially, kneading the bread together is a source of hope”, Savova said. Discouraged or oppressed by daily difficulties, many people discover that material goods are not the only thing to yearn for and realize that they can be happy also with simple things like the home-made bread they made”.