International Band is made ☺

   Last week I got back from the EVS volunteers’ arrival training course. It took place in Stockholm in people’s education center called  “Bromma Folkshögskola”. 16 volunteers from 13 countries, 2 trainers and visitors from National Agency, 4 days and many, many beautiful moments ☺ 

  

The whole 4 days training was very intensive, covering areas starting with fears and expectations from EVS, the mentor-volunteer relationship, different ways how to challenge yourself more, what are our personal goals, how to get involved in the local community, various teambuilding techniques and learning more about Swedish culture and people… All this was done in a very informal and
interactive way with inside and outside activities.

The activities were useful and also enjoyable, especially when we created music band named "International band". The students of Bromma Folkshögskola helped us to create music by playing all sorts of instruments. The lyrics of music was: Spela musik e skoj! Bara massa glädje , Spela musik e skoj!  During whole 4 days all of us were singing this music, maybe  after training also ☺ ( I woke up with this song in my head today!)

After the training we had time for walking, we visited so attractive places in Stockholm. On 25th of April it was cultural night in Stockholm and we visited Nordiska and Nobel museum
together. I really enjoyed, it was fun and full of

good moments. Hopefully it is not the last time we, the members of “International band” see each other. We already started thinking about where we could meet, what kind of activities we could have together.

Overall, I am so happy, I had an amazing time with amazing people and now, I am the member of the international band and have new friends.

Living the EVS life is great, isn’t it?

#SaveKidsLives

                                
 
   Maybe you don't have children, maybe you aren't driver and maybe your country is safe for children, but it does not matter, this is also your problem. Every day more than 500 children lose their lives in traffic crashes globally and thousands are injured.
   #SaveKidsLives is the worldwide and official campaign for the Third United Nations Global Road Safety Week (4-10 May 2015). The campaign is calling for action to save children's lives on the roads around the world. It does so by:
 • highlighting the plight of children on the roads;
 • generating worldwide action to better ensure the safety of children on the roads;
 • calling for inclusion of safe and sustainable transport in the post-2015 development agenda.
  The campaign operates on the principles of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and is managed by a broad coalition of members from the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration.

  Framtidstaget, organization which mainly focuses on youth, feels responsibility for the world's children and joined the campaign #SaveKidsLives.
  For us, it is so important that every child's live would be safe and because of this we call upon decision-makers worldwide to take action and protect children. Let's save kids' lives!

If you think that this problem needs to be solved join the campaign.
Visit the web page: http://www.savekidslives2015.org/, read the declaration and sign it, download the signboard, take a photo and show everyone your road safety massage.

You can watch the video for more information, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SwyBVw_-qI

Belarusdagarna 2015 - The Belarus Days in Stockholm

At the end of March Belarus related civil activists in different countries all over the world organize so-called "Belarus Days". Stockholm also became a place of such activity, provided by Östgruppen and Forum Syd. The event took place from 24th to 26th of March, 2015, in different parts of Stockholm. I attended first two of them. 


First day – 24th of March – was like a short introduction to the Belarusian culture. It took place in “Kulturfyren”, which is situated on a Stockholm’s island called Skeppsholmen. There people could taste some dishes of Belarus cuisine, that had been prepared by the representatives of diaspora here.

Former Swedish ambassador in Belarus, Stefan Eriksson, introduced the society, event moderators, and ethnomusician and singer Irena Katvitskaya. Irena performed some songs with piano accompaniment, while the other just sang in a very beautiful way, traditional to the Belarusian folk singing (I still remember this style from my childhood as grandmother had been singing). 

The next day was a full-day seminar in the Royal Coin Cabinet in Stockholm historical center region - Gamla stan. The event took place from 9:00 till 17:00, where different civil activists and representatives of organizations on human rights from Sweden, Russia and Belarus made their speeches. For me it was really curious to find out that there are so many people from abroad, who are really interested in Belarus, who really wish to help my homeland somehow in the period of economic and social crisis.