The project with the participation of international students began its life.
Friendship without Borders
The project was created to help foreign students get acquainted with different national cultures, to strengthen the atmosphere of friendship and international understanding, to develop interest among Belarusian students and pupils to foreign citizens as representatives of other cultures.
The first meeting of foreign students of Euphrosyne Polotskaya State University of Polotsk with high school students took place in one of Novopolotsk schools. The children took part in the meeting ‘Get to know my country’ as part of the project Friendship without Borders.
Tavus Annamova, a student of the Faculty of Humanities, was the first who visited the pupils. Tavus told about Turkmenistan and introduced national traditions, customs and national cuisine of her country to the children. The student also baked Turkmen bread for the meeting. The high school pupils listened to the presentation with great interest and asked the questions. The meeting ended with a tea party.
The students from Tajikistan Ganjina Jumakhondzoda and Khayem Oripov continued the tradition of ‘Let's get to know each other’ meetings. The students of the Faculty of Humanities acquainted eighth grade pupils with the capital of Tajikistan – Dushanbe. They also told them about the national cuisine and wedding traditions of their country.
After learning about the Friendship without Borders project, students from Uzbekistan decided to continue the friendly meetings and participated in the preparation of the video. Munisa Tursunova, a student of the Faculty of Finance and Economics, visited pupils at the meeting ‘I'll tell you about my country’. Thanks to her, students saw the beauty of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and learned the recipe of the national dish, Uzbek pilaf.
Traditionally, all meetings finish with a chat over tea. The project has been continuing for two years. Each meeting is unique, because the participants and the geography of the countries have been changing.
Hervé Ndéna Lupechet, the student of the Faculty of Information Technologies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, came to the meeting ‘Let's get to know each other over a cup of tea’.
Friendship without Borders
Students of the gymnasium learn French and English. Therefore, at the request of the lecturers and high school pupils, Hervé Lupechet prepared a story about his country in French, the official language of the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the beginning of the meeting kids were a little shy to ask questions, but later they joined the conversation. There were no difficulties in communication. The children were so involved in the conversation that they did not want to let Hervé leave, so they continued communication over tea. Hervé told the kids about himself and his family traditions. The meeting left a lot of impressions both from the pupils and Herve Lupechet. The project participants are looking forward to new meetings.
Friendship without Borders
The participants of the meeting shared their impressions:
Lyubov Baturina, French teacher: ‘The children were waiting with interest for the guest from the Democratic Republic of Congo, preparing questions. Unique information about the history of the country, animals, plants, received from a resident of Central Africa, made an indelible impression on the pupils. The meeting gave an opportunity to communicate with a native speaker, ask questions and get answers in French’.
Lyubov Baturina, French teacher: ‘The children were waiting with interest for the guest from the Democratic Republic of Congo, preparing questions. Unique information about the history of the country, animals, plants, received from a resident of Central Africa, made an indelible impression on the pupils. The meeting gave an opportunity to communicate with a native speaker, ask questions and get answers in French’.
Viacheslav Serkov, 10th grade pupil: ‘I'm glad that this meeting was productive. I had a chance to practice communication skills with a native speaker and to hear French from a student from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I also got interesting information about national cuisine’.
Yulia Abramenko, 8th grade pupil: ‘I can't express my impression of the meeting at once, there are a lot of emotions. It's a positive shock. I'm glad to have the opportunity to communicate with students from other countries. I'm looking forward to the next meetings’
Hervé Ndéna Lupechet, student of Euphrosyne Polotskaya State University of Polotsk: ‘I gladly accepted the invitation to meet the high school pupils and tell them about the Democratic Republic of Congo. My country is very bright, beautiful, interesting, and this information I would like to share with the pupils. I was a little worried whether the kids would understand me, because the meeting was planned in French, and whether I had prepared an interesting presentation. My worries were in vain, the pupils understand and speak French well, and the conversation was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere’.
Yulia Abramenko, 8th grade pupil: ‘I can't express my impression of the meeting at once, there are a lot of emotions. It's a positive shock. I'm glad to have the opportunity to communicate with students from other countries. I'm looking forward to the next meetings’
Hervé Ndéna Lupechet, student of Euphrosyne Polotskaya State University of Polotsk: ‘I gladly accepted the invitation to meet the high school pupils and tell them about the Democratic Republic of Congo. My country is very bright, beautiful, interesting, and this information I would like to share with the pupils. I was a little worried whether the kids would understand me, because the meeting was planned in French, and whether I had prepared an interesting presentation. My worries were in vain, the pupils understand and speak French well, and the conversation was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere’.