Even though AEGEE-Minsk is only a contact antenna they are already very active and now working on being upgraded. Moreover, they are also organising an event later this year giving AEGEEans a chance to take part in an international event and get to know their city. The AEGEEan interviewed Alesia Vorobyova and Nadezhda Fomenok about their antenna AEGEE-Minsk and their upcoming event taking place this summer.
Organizers of the summer event
Alesia is the PR-responsible of AEGEE-Minsk, is 23 years old and an international law graduate. She got inspired by AEGEE from her classmate, previous AEGEE-Minsk President. Ever since she wanted to improve the visibility of the antenna and it was her who said “AEGEE-Minsk needs an international event”, and persuaded the local to believe in it. Apart from AEGEE Alesia is working as an editor at a newspaper, dancing salsa and exploring the world around her. Nadezhda (or Nadia) Fomenok, the President of AEGEE-Minsk, is 22 years old, and currently graduating from the international law department. During her term she wanted to work on uniting the antenna locally, but got caught by the vision of Alesia on the international event. Since January Nadia, together with Alesia, coordinated the process of organizing the event. In addition to AEGEE, Nadia is assisting in a law firm, drawing and dreaming of an after-graduation trip.
The AEGEEan: Can you tell us a bit about your antenna? When were you founded?
Certainly! This year is of special importance for us since we host Europe on track, hold many local events, and, for sure, our first in years international event “Discover Belarus” takes place! We indeed believe that AEGEE-Minsk has fully recovered from its sleep. This year we expect to be upgraded and get an antenna status (now we are a contact-antenna). A lot of effort was put towards this, both by previous and our board. Speaking of the history, AEGEE-Minsk was founded on March 9, 1999 by the students from European Humanities University. Recently we have celebrated our 15th anniversary with the members. The birthday celebration was very interesting since we had both AEGEE “newbies” and “oldies” present, and all of them shared their vision towards the future of the antenna.
Birthday celebration
How many members do you have? Are you very active?
We have 49 members in our antenna (according to the Agora reports), and a good half of them is active. Most of them decided to join either after friends’ suggestions or due to the information on Facebook groups. After getting to know other antennae one thing is clear: we lack time to be active as an AEGEEan. The reason is that getting a master degree, PhD or studying for a long time (in comparison to EU) is not very common for us. Usually, by 23 young people in Minsk already have their degree finished and start working (not to mention getting married). Getting the first job while being a student is also a very common thing. For sure, that all makes combining life with AEGEE pretty complicated, and our job is to show that combining is worth it!
How do you help the members of your antenna applying for SUs?
On March 22, we organized a special educational event where we shared experiences about the possibilities of low cost travelling, visas and described in the most detailed way the whole application process for the SU for the other members and newcomers. Our board is open to answer all questions. Additionally, on the Facebook page of AEGEE-Minsk you can find our FAQ-tab, which was also updated with the information about Summer Universities.
How do you try to keep the members active after the SUs?
Good question! As a rule, members appear before SU period, and we do not have to specifically “look” for them. As for the “keeping”, it is hard to keep the members if SU is the only thing happening in the antenna. We work on changing that – in many spheres. In addition, we think that many members got inspired by our event “Discover Belarus”. It shows that being with AEGEE-Minsk is interesting. It is too early to make conclusions for sure, but we expect that this year our members will want to stay with AEGEE even during the “boring” after-SU time and make it just as unforgettable as their summer.
How is the relation between your antenna and the university?
Currently our antenna works without university support. Most of our universities are using state budget – that is the reason they have no possibility to offer us any sponsorship. Additionally, in my opinion, universities do not see any practical value for students from organisations as AEGEE as a whole. As a consequence, we lack cooperation with them. Anyway, we are open to start such partnership as soon as we find mutual interest. We consider that if we manage to show that additional activity in AEGEE adds to the study process (but not endangers its quality due to constant missing of lectures), then our universities will be more willing to assist us. We work on that, and let’s see if we make any progress soon!
What is special about the city of Minsk?
We post such kind of information in our FB group of the event (both about Belarus and Minsk), to give the prospective participant a hint on what a unique place to visit Minsk is. Minsk will not remind you of any other city you have ever been to. Firstly, because Belarus suffered most during the Second World War, which influenced the architecture enormously. Secondly, we have a Soviet Union background (we admit the impact it had on our culture). Thirdly, Minsk is really a good place for those who are interested in sports: there is a beautiful cycling road going throughout a big part of the city and all its main parks; lots of new willing to take up sports objects with and designed in a modern way; we host a hockey championship this May. Recently we have started a hashtag #discoverbelarus on Instagram, so check it yourself!
What experience do you have with organizing events in your antenna?
Our antenna has a huge event-organising experience. In the past AEGEE-Minsk organised summer universities. The most recent international event was the Maslenitsa event organised by AEGEE-Minsk in cooperation with Grodno local in 2012. Organising events is interesting, since it tests your ability to coordinate the team. The main problem we have to combat is the disbelief that other AEGEEans are interested in Belarus. This year we were very lucky to find the support of Hostel Trinity, which not only believed that the event would happen and offered us a discount; but also became the first hostel in Belarus to give discounts (and assist with visa) to any AEGEEan who decides to travel to Minsk. Make sure not to miss this opportunity!
What is your event about?
Our event is about discovering Belarus for yourself. Many young Europeans have already travelled the whole Schengen zone by their 25, but only a few have seen Belarus. Therefore, most of them know about the culture of the country based on the rare appearances of Belarus in TV. We will offer a chance to learn a bit of Belarus’ history, see our nightlife and talk to real Belarusians, turn into a Soviet citizen for one day, we will share the experience of a typical Belarusian village and we will do our best to surprise you with our food, music, dances and nature!
Why should people apply for your event?
That is the easiest way to discover Belarus. We will offer our best support in visa process, will help you to find the cheapest way to arrive, and will ensure the best of entertainment when in Belarus. We are sure that will be interesting for the true adventurer, and we will do our best to make the participants have an unforgettable time in Belarus.
Do you consider it a challenge that the event is around the same time as the SUs?
No, we do not consider it a challenge to say the truth. We aim at the AEGEEan who is ready to meet and learn a new part of Europe – which for some reason seems hard to travel to and to explore. For certain during our event a lot of stereotypes and unwritten fears will be broken. That is of great value for us – make Belarusians closer to other locals of AEGEE, show that we share a lot despite our differences. When next year we hold a SU, then SUs are to see us as a challenge.
What else are you working on in your antenna these days?
We are looking forward to enlarging the activity in our antenna this year. We plan to promote the information about AEGEE (especially among junior students) and gather together more often during our so-called “eternal circulating event” happening every second weekend. We also expect to have more educational, charity and experience exchanging events to attract various kinds of people. Thus, recently we have initiated a meeting “advice on cheap travel” and all the money from this meeting will go to the foster house. That is something new to AEGEE-Minsk, and there are many more interesting ideas to come.
Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza