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On September 30 – October 4, 2009 a rally of Belarusian students residing abroad took place in Lithuania. Members of informal network under the name United Students of Belarus (USB) fathered for the third time since 2007. The event was organized by the Eastern Europe Studies Centre.
45 students from 10 countries (Belarus, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, the Ukraine and the USA) participated in the event. 2 of them have participated in the Rally for the 3rd time, 10 have attended the Rally last year. Thus the informal network maintains its core while allowing new members to join it.
The aim of the rallies is to unite Belarusian youth dispersed around the world into a viable communication and cooperation network, to encourage their civic consciousness and activity. The informal network of Belarusian students around the world gives the members a possibility to gain knowledge, share experience and ideas. It also facilitates the participants of the project to cooperate in organizing local or joint cross border activities.
The geographical boundaries of the informal community expand every year. This year participants from Great Britain, Italy and Russia complemented the network.
Human rights issues and civil actions have been chosen as a topic of the event. Therefore, all activities of the event were thematically coherent, from the master classes on writing, communication and advocacy skills, discussions and film screening to the traditional game Brainfight, where Belarusian participants tested their knowledge about human rights issues around the world against their Lithuanian counterparts.
The participants of the USB Rally 2009 enjoyed an intensive and dynamic cultural programme that encompassed a concert of a Belarusian music band, interactive game in the old town of Vilnius, visit to the national art gallery, film screening.
The organizers also used the event in order to engage students in other project activities such as preparation of the publication Over the Hedge: the participants have been asked to elaborate and present their ideas concerning the content of the publication.
The organizers suppose that knowledge gained by the participants during the USB Rally 2009 will facilitate their function as Belarus image makers and informal ‘ambassadors’ of Belarus abroad as well as help them in representing their motherland in countries they are studying. Furthermore, as the participants of the event agree, USB Rallies contribute to the consolidation of Belarusian youth abroad.
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