Playing the philanthropist in Bulgaria
Ten HAN-students were guests in Bulgaria last summer. They didn’t know beforehand that they would have to give away money and hug unsuspecting strangers. But it happened and one man was enjoying it a bit too much...
What's happening?
A Bulgarian women walks the sober streets of the city Dobrich unsuspectingly, when suddenly a frenzied group of ten students is coming towards her. What do they want from her? Is it for a poll? Or worse, money for a good cause? To her greatest surprise the group doesn’t want anything from her, they even want to give her something! ‘Free money’? one of the students asks her. Did she hear that correctly? Money for free! ‘Yes’, she mumbles back. And a moment later she bewilderedly gazes after the group, with about two Euros of Bulgarian lava in her hand. The philanthropists who just provided the woman with free money all study at the HAN.
Summer course in Bulgaria
Last summer, about ten students and two teachers from HAN, who know each other of Arnhem Business School and the weekly Theatre sport-meetings at the campus in Arnhem, a summer course in Bulgaria. In two weeks time they got a training in Personal Management. This was financed by the European Union, by means of a Erasmus-grant. The HAN-students and teachers underwent different lectures , a management game and different trainings in Theatre-sport. There were also projects executed based on Human Brain Dominance Instrument, a kind of profile test concerning dominant thinking. Part of this was the project in which the HAN-students went down the streets and had to bring two products among the people: free hugs and free money.
Hugging twice
‘In the beginning the people looked at us very confused’, Irina Kormiletskaya (19), HAN-student, says. ‘That logical of course, nobody believes that you really want to give away money’. Bart van den Doel, also HAN-student, rounds up: ‘We apparently looked very intimidating, but that was because we were so into the project. It was really nice to see how passers-by reacted to these free hugs and free money we gave them. And also how we dealt with that.’
A bit too much...
After a while the students come to like it, just like the Bulgarian inhabitants. Especially the hugs. ‘Some people wanted to hug me twice,’ Irina laughs. Of course these kinds of philanthropist activities also attracts the wrong people. ‘There was one man who wanted to hug the whole group, more than just once. That man was really enjoying it a bit too much!’
In the meanwhile all students are back in Holland. They look back on their Bulgarian adventure with pleasure, which caused them to receive a certificate in Training Personal Management. And that thanks to giving away a couple of free hugs.
How wonderful the is sometimes, isn’t it?
