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My wife Donia and I had left Bulgaria with our young son Tsanko back in 1995 to settle in New Zealand, where we lived for nine years and where our daughter Stefanie was born. We moved to the UK in 2004. My brother Doytchin and his wife Galina, both physicians, had moved to the UK directly from Bulgaria a few years earlier. We had all been attracted by the professional opportunities in the UK, and the NHS was a natural choice and a magnet for the three of us. My wife and I were also excited by the prospect of being closer to family both in the UK and Bulgaria, and to Europe.
I was recruited from the Philippines in 2000 as part of a 40 person batch. It was my first time leaving my family and going abroad. I was feeling really lonely, but at the same time excited because it was a new chapter for me.
When I came over from Zimbabwe in 2002 it was an experiment really. I used to work in a good job back home, but my friend was here and kept saying, “You need to come over to the UK,” so I just wanted to try and see how it goes. I’m still here; it’s been more than 20 years of my life.
