Friendship without Borders

On October 23 2019, in the lobby of the first floor and lecture hall No. 3 of Vitebsk State Medical University, the by now already established event of international friendship "What Unites Us" was held as part of the creativity festival of medical students.

Our university can rightfully bear the name the Order of Peoples’ Friendship – in this evening all students merge into a single entity and the journey in the wonderful world of different cultures begins.

Students in national costumes, sounds of national songs, unique ethnic artifacts, the smell of incense, national sweets, laughter and countless selfies in exotic jewelry - all this took everyone’s breath away. It was like a trip to many countries of the world within the same floor of our native university. And all this happened thanks to the international evening of friendship and national cultures, organized by the primary trade union organization of VSMU students together with the dean’s office of overseas student training faculty.

This year, Chinese students from VSU named after P.M. Masherov took part in this event. They were pleasantly surprised by such a friendly atmosphere that prevailed everywhere, and were able to enjoy various national dishes, take pictures with participants from many countries.

A.M. Myasoedov, the chairman of the primary trade union organization of VSMU students, opened the presentation of national cultures, noting the importance of cultural communication in the modern world. Then Belarusian students presented their culture wearing national costumes, singing Belarusian folk songs to the guitar. Students of different nationalities (India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Ghana, Nigeria, Turkmenistan) staged thematic exhibitions introducing to local students their cultural values ​​and history. The foreign students showed the most beautiful and interesting sights in the form of multimedia presentations and videos, talked about famous compatriots, sang the anthems of their countries and demonstrated their national dances and songs. All this made an unusually friendly atmosphere. Applause sounded throughout the holiday, and the time allotted for the event flew completely unnoticed.

As a result, all participants and guests of the festival got acquainted with the cultures of other countries, received a tremendous emotional uplift! It is such events that allow all prejudices and stereotypes be  erased, which means to discover unknown countries and continents, to make new friends. This event has already become a good tradition of our university.

Anastasia Mikhailova - chairman of the commission on information and public relations of the trade union committee of VSMU students.

Photo materials: Yana Makarova - member of the commission on information and public relations of the trade union committee of VSMU students.