Patrick Smithuis has been living in Bulgaria for several years with his beautiful wife and "my two little princesses". He is an entrepreneur by vocation, but for several years he is mainly engaged in projects with social character. Patrick loves Bulgaria as his (second) homeland and everyday he is surprised by the local reality.

Patrick: I am Dutchman. In many aspects the Netherlands meets the idea that the most Bulgarians have for it. It is an over organized country. A place where people are really equal. A world capital of democracy. The country where the prime minister goes to work with his bike. Where all the schools are free and the education is on high level. Where the gardens are evergreen and where you can see fat and happy cows in the fields.

On top of that I come from a family of entrepreneurs and even for the Dutch standards we were doing very well. The perfect family model - with money and without any care. When I was young I realized that despite these benefits and advantages, the people in the West live an unnatural life. In a large silicone balloon. Uprooted. Cut off from the land that feeds us. We live an absolutely meaningless life. Anyway, in Holland everything that can provide a comfort to people is already done. We just had to work from 9 to 5, to consume and keep still. Many people may take it as a fantasy but for me it was a hell. 18 years ago I started with trading clothes. On a world tour after graduating (in our country it is almost obligatory adventure for anyone who becomes 18) I met with some producers of blouses and shirts in Indonesia. After that I became a tailor... In a couple of years I became a manager of my own factory and gradually entered exactly that scenario which I tried to escape from.

In 1992 I came for first time to Bulgaria to look for partners. About 11 or 12 years I have produced millions of T-shirts, sweaters, pants and jackets in Bulgaria. Many of them were completely meaningless goods - something I am not proud with when I think back. The happiest man with my business was a local mattresses manufacturer. He infinitely enjoyed the huge stacks of scrap and waste from our production. For ten years he had a free filling of his mattresses (smiling).

In 2004 or 2005, I forgot the right time, I sold my business and decided to deal with meaningful things. I wanted to build, rather than producing goods that people would throw out the next day. To build things that people enjoy. Social value projects. I had some savings from my “textile” years and a good "track-record". At that time of an economic euphoria in Europe there was an easy access to capitals. Funding of any ideas was easy then. The realization of ideas, however, here in Bulgaria was another story because of "technical reasons of local character" for example. But I do not complain. God has always been taking care of me and my family. Despite the many business problems I have been very blessed in my life.

My first visit in Bulgaria was in the hardest time for Bulgarians when people had to wait in long queues for buying bread. But even then I felt Bulgaria as my home. It is quite strange, by the way. There is no doubt that I am a real Dutchman, it is obviously, but the more East I go, the better I feel. I've visited many places in the Middle East - from Turkey to Israel and the Emirates - and everywhere I feel well. I do not know but if you believe in reincarnation, I must have many times been on duty in these areas in my previous lives.

Bulgaria astounds me with its beauty. Amazingly diversity. What beautiful scenery! So many opportunities, such an enormous potential. You have everything needed. You should know that!

It was hard to get used to the local psychology. I realized from the very first day in Bulgaria that it would be the hardest part in any initiative hereafter. The Bulgarian style of thinking is very different by the Dutch one. Both nations have much to learn from each other. I learned a lot of Bulgarians - values for example. Something about the Dutch has forgotten a long time ago. From my side I try to show those who want to know that sometimes complex issues are easily resolved in Dutch style. But I haven’t been understood anytime and prefer to stay away from comments like: "He is Dutch and wants to tell us what to do in our own country". This is a difficult balance. I realize it. But many Bulgarians carry a baggage of the past times, and it stops the noble development of their country.

The last years of my life in Bulgaria was described in 1605 in Miguel de Cervantes’s book Don Quixote. I am currently at the windmills. But I know that the situation will get changed. And it will be soon. My message reaches the right people through the films that I make. Both in Bulgaria and abroad. Some of them are available online. You can see them here. The otherfilms will eventually be broadcast on a Dutch television. Currently I am working hard to finish a complete series of them.

I am interested in diverse topics. At the moment I make films for agriculture and education. The idea is through the films to look for the right direction on these issues for Bulgaria. How to unlock the potential that we have? How do we get things on track? My films have English subtitles. In that way these issues may go beyond the national borders. At the same time I want to show what a beautiful and valuable country Bulgaria is. The films help me to meet extraordinary people - people with fantastic initiatives, people who are struggling for a number of great causes. People with a clear purpose. But they are still a few and don’t get united. Another typical Bulgarian problem. The good people can not unite because they do not find a common denominator and do not trust each other. On other hand the bad people get easy united by money. Money seem to be the strongest glue in the world.

However, I am sure that the battle is not lost and one day Bulgaria will emerge and will become a very successful country. It will be an example for the whole world. This is my dream. I hope I will live long enough to see Bulgaria over the absolute bottom, becoming an example for Europe. I believe we can build - if we want - a sustainable society living in harmony with its land. A sustainable model. Not the one of the Western Europe and many other countries where the amount of the resources is rapidly decreasing and the Europeans will soon wonder why their countries have turned into a desert. Do not be fooled. The world will not withstand the current model. There is no need to go back to the Stone Age and to ride a horse going to work, but in the coming decades the whole world will wonder how to find a more natural balance. Many people accuse me that I am only interested in squirrels, beetles and other green topics. That’s not true. As an entrepreneur I have an excellent knowledge of money, competition, marketing, branding, market economy and everything connected to it. I understand that people need food and have to live a decent life. In this regard Bulgaria is still waiting its great progress. One day Bulgarians will find out that nature and natural resources are the most valuable assets of Bulgaria. People from all over the world will come here searching for these assets. They will want to live here because we haven’t screwed up what can not be found in their countries anymore.

I was so much intrigued by this issues and a year and a half ago I began making films for Bulgaria on various important issues - trying to find out what should be done to get things moving in the right direction.

Bulgaria has to rediscover itself. To know what is valuable. Bulgaria will be something unique in Europe. I believe that it was meant to be. That’s why 25 years we were stagnated. To see through the other countries’ experience what we should not do. To learn while keeping Bulgaria unstained. That is why there are so many Bulgarians abroad. They should go. Without the new knowledge, without getting away physically from the old system and a total “reset”, the new ideas can not survive in Bulgaria. What attracts me the most to the Bulgarians is, that they are very relevant to their land and really love it. Although it is not always that apparent and perhaps the people do not realize it... Although 90% of the Bulgarian emigrants claim that everything is all right, in Germany or in the US, there is no nation that so much cares about its roots. That’s what I missed in the Netherlands and therefore I won’t budge from here. Whatever happens.

Besides the films I also fight for making of a nature reserve on the banks of the Iskar Dam, a children's camp, IT schools for disadvantaged youth. We initiated a case in Strasbourg for the Bulgarians living abroad whose right to vote is actually denied. In the same vein we try to organize a festival for Bulgarians who live abroad, organizing different events that make them thinking that it's time to go home maybe. Good examples, ideas, work proposals.

If someone has a good idea in this line, please contact me! You can easily find me on Facebook or elsewhere on the Internet. The festival will take place around Sofia in the summer, to “catch” the people who come back to Bulgaria on their holidays.

Many qualified Bulgarians have moved abroad and without them (or at least a part of them) Bulgaria can hardly get better. We must do everything possible to make them coming back. They have knowledge, experience and contacts. And money also. First of all they should have the opportunity to vote, to participate in the democratic process. It can be done easy in the computer age, via Internet. And if our politicians in the National Assembly are not ripe yet for online vote, they should know that people across Europe vote by mail or by proxy. It is a question of goodwill. But the goodwill is missing. Some people live better in that way. And we should change that!

Source: http://uspelite.bg