Volunteering in Belarus. Development of voluntary private initiatives to support and impart knowledge about homeland, nature and the values of peaceful coexistence.

Project period:  2019-2022

Volunteering is very important in Germany and guarantees peaceful coexistence, cultural diversity and sustainable development in our society. In many other countries, volunteering is still in its infancy and is supported by numerous partnerships and programmes of the European Union. Belarus has been one of these countries in recent decades. The focus of the sustainable development strategy is on implementing volunteering in the Belarusian regions. Many citizens in Belarus are only now learning to take the initiative themselves and roll up their sleeves to make life in their homeland more colourful and diverse.

Our association supported networking between active volunteers from Germany and Belarus, thereby contributing to the strengthening of civil society in the Miory region.

The Miory district is one such region. In the far north of Belarus, on the border with Latvia, lies one of the most beautiful regions of Belarus with 83 lakes and Europe’s largest marshland, ‘Yelna’. With its strong centre, the town of Miory, and many smaller communities, the district is a typical rural region. For several years now, a unique international project has been underway in Belarus called ‘Together for Society and Nature: Strengthening the Development Process in the Miory Region through Partnership between Authorities and Civil Society’.

In the course of the project, many private initiatives have been launched on a voluntary basis. People help each other and pass on their knowledge about their homeland and nature and the values of peaceful coexistence. In the ‘Silver Age’ café, for example, older people from neighbouring villages gather and, together with the younger generation, learn how to use computers, the internet and new social media. They feel more confident in unfamiliar territory and the young people learn to take responsibility.

Things are quite different in Xenia Maskalenka’s baking workshop. She preserves the local tradition and regional recipes for gingerbread baking and now passes them on to children and young people. Numerous motifs have been created featuring cranberries, which grow in the local marshes and are one of the biggest sources of income for the regional economy. New specialities are also being created together in the bakery workshop: gingerbread with local herbs and berries.

Many initiatives are aimed at young people and are supported by them. Natalya Budjko runs the ‘Smart Kids’ children’s and youth club in Miory. The children learn how to handle information properly and develop new formats for quiz games.

 The pupils from the comprehensive school in the municipality of Powjatje used their free time to create a large school garden with many old varieties of fruit and vegetables, collected old recipes from their grandmothers in their home village and organised a culinary festival for the villagers with tastings of delicacies from their own vegetable patch. With their ‘Green School’ project, the pupils from Powjatje created a model for the idea of organic farming as part of extracurricular education.

Sustainability and regional history are the central themes of the many small and large working groups and associations dedicated to preserving and exploring local nature and the customs and traditions of northern Belarus. The youth association for regional history research participates in the ecological festival ‘Cranes and Cranberries’, organises days dedicated to extinct crafts and arranges holiday camps. The inhabitants of the Miory district are learning to make their nature-surrounded villages attractive for themselves and for tourists, rediscovering their traditions and customs, and preserving and passing on their joie de vivre. They would be very happy to receive suggestions and contact from volunteers from Siegen-Wittgenstein.

Project funded by the European Union