Visiting Goatmilk

Adem Murat Yilmam reflects on his experience visiting Bela Rechka…

Good to see you again or hear you again or read you again.

I remember the days when we worked together with Diana at the Radio Free Europe years ago as a democracy fighters:-) Those days I have started to make a great friendship with Diana as two Balkanians who are coming from neighbouring countries, which makes us Komshu (Neighbours). We have a saying in Turkish “don’t pay so much attention to buy a house but gain good neighbour”. She is my very good neighbour with all the love she and her friends are always so generous to share with me.

I also remember when she first told me her future project which would take place in her mother village. I still feel same excitement what I felt when I listened her future project. She quit her job at the radio and moved to Bulgaria to reach for her dream. She reached her dream and named it Goat Milk Festival..

The Goat Milk festival gave me huge inspiration that, with love and honesty, good things can be done together no matter where we come from or which cultures -because when I listen to people’s individual stories who live in Bela Rechka or come to the Festival I can feel the goodness which is existing in each person. Actually this is the best way to understand different cultures than watching movies or reading official history books. When people tell their own stories with their past then we can really understand what is to be Bulgarian or Turk or English or Polish or Pomak. Unfortunately we are forced by the state to obey official histories that are usually full with the lies or they are stories of the big commanders or kings. There is no real people’s stories in them.

The Goat Milk Festival also is the festival which gave me and reminded me of the beautiful taste of my grandmother’s childhood stories. I was able to travel and meet with new places and cultures in my imagination without any hate or prejudice or fears in her stories.

I always heard from her stories how it is important to have a good neighbours because her Bulgarian neighbours saved the her families life during their escape to Turkey after the second Balkanian war. Her stories were mostly about their life experience or neighbour’s life.
The real stories of the real people, like the people who gather in Goat Milk Festival with their personal stories in every years festival.

Personal stories became events and projects then these events brings happiness to the people’s heart during the Festival.

That’s what I can say and write about Goat Milk.

Again I thank you very much to the all people who makes possible the Goat Milk Festival.

A.Murat Yilmam, Bursa, Turkey