Peoples' friendship and strength – our cherished and sunshiny pathway

On 14 November 2018, a festive atmosphere prevailed in the hall on the ground floor in front of 3 and 4 lecture halls of the medical-theoretical building of Vitebsk State Medical University. Here an unusual journey into the world of multiple cultures began.

Students in national costumes, sounds of ethnic musical instruments, unique objects, the smell of fragrance, laughter and countless selfies in exotic jewelry - all this filled the festival with special charm. It seemed that you could travel around the world within the same floor of your native university.

“International Evening of Friendship and National Cultures” turned out to be the parade of cultures, organized by the primary trade union organization of VSMU students, together with Dean’s office of the faculty of overseas students training, and the department for educational work with youth and ideological center within the framework of the International Festival “VSMU-2018 Student Autumn".

Belarusian students opened the exhibition: girls and boys in national costumes represented the Belarusian folk culture, paintings and crafts in traditional style, talked about our customs, culture and history, sang songs in native language.

Students of different nationalities (India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Libya, Ghana, Nigeria, Turkmenistan) also organized thematic exhibitions to show local students cultural values, history and customs of their own countries.

Guys from Ghana showed culture and household articles of their country, surprised with beauty and rich design of national clothes - luxuriously decorated clothes, Indian students fascinated with beauty of jewelry and lots of souvenirs, illustrations related to the history and culture of the country, and various fragrances made the guests immerse themselves in the atmosphere of India. The Sri Lankan community also presented a large number of elements of native culture: jewelry, figurines, books, and even local products (herbal tea, oils, etc.). Libyans in national costumes showed souvenirs, told about the culture and customs of their country, supporting the story with colorful photographs and illustrations. Representatives of Nigeria paid great attention to national clothes and traditions. Lebanese presented a considerable number of brochures, booklets, souvenirs, books, figurines and a Lebanese passport to the guests, revealing the meaning of each element of the culture of their homeland in a fascinating way.

After the exhibition of national artifacts, the festival moved into a large lecture hall. In his opening speech, the chairman of the primary trade union organization of students, Alexander M. Myasoedov thanked everyone who had gathered for their interest paid not only of their own country, but also of other countries. He spoke about a strong international friendship that has developed between students from all over the world within the walls of our university.

Alexander M. Myasoedov also noted that Belarus is a peaceful island in world geography, where more than 140 nationalities and ethnic groups live together in complete harmony. This topic is particularly actual for our university, since VSMU became the first university in the republic to gain the right to train medical personnel for foreign countries and was awarded the Order of Peoples’ Friendship for significant contribution to this area of activity.

Pavlova Polina, a student of General Medicine faculty, was honored to tell about our native Republic of Belarus, and described in detail the culture, history and traditions of Belarusian people. She also talked about the history of foundation of the faculty for overseas students training at VSMU.

Then foreign students took up the torch from local students. The guys using multimedia presentations, video clips showed the most beautiful and interesting sights, talked about famous compatriots, sang national songs and danced national dances, shared recipes of their favorite dishes and boasted the achievements of their countries in different spheres. All this has created an unusually fun and interesting atmosphere.

The unusually colorful folk costumes and decorations of the Sri Lanka community immediately engaged the eyes of the guests of the festival: the students showed a fascinating presentation demonstrating both historical facts and quite interesting information about the country and its culture.

Nigeria also conquered visitors with bright colors of national clothes and household items made in rich colors and decorated with patterns. Ghana surprised by the national song, multimedia presentation and video clips showing the most famous sights of the country.

Throughout the holiday, continuous applause almost did not cease, and the time allotted for the event run out completely unnoticed.

In the closing ceremony speech, Oleg M. Vasiliev, dean of the faculty of overseas students training, thanked all the students and the trade union committee for the organized festival, a real evening of friendship and mutual understanding, and expressed hope that this beautiful tradition would be preserved for many years.

As a result, all the participants and guests of the festival received a tremendous emotional boost, a huge splash of positive emotions, enriched with knowledge about other countries, their culture! Without doubt, such events help efface the borders and discover unexplored countries and continents, finding new friends.