Hi, my name is Kate Buikema, and I am the Fulbright ETA in the town of Razgrad in Bulgaria-- and the Speech and Debate Coach of the incredible students pictured here.

These students are competitors in a program called BEST (Bulgarian English Speech Tournament), through which high school students from all over Bulgaria compete in public speaking and debate events in English.

If you've done speech and debate or anything like it before, you know what an impact it can have on a student's life and how passionate these students are about what they do.

My students are no exception.

Razgrad is a very small town in the northeast of Bulgaria, but these kids are making a big impact. My team includes Regional Champions, National Finalists, and everything in between. This year, we want to do better than we've ever done before.

But we can't do it without your help.

Registering and getting to tournaments can be very expensive (travel, food, accommodation, registration), and for many students, it's unaffordable. Our first tournament is in late November, and while our students are practicing these next few months, we need to raise $2,000 so all that practice will pay off.

Your donation goes directly to making sure these students can pursue their passions, achieve their goals, and learn that they are capable of incredible things.

Please, help us make it to our first tournament!