Volunteers of Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno took part in an International Festival of Volunteer Teams

From April 23 to 25, the XI International Festival of Volunteer Teams "Our Choice – A Healthy Lifestyle" was held in Pinsk at Polessky State University. Its participants included volunteer teams not only from the Republic of Belarus but also from Russia.

Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno was represented at the event by members of the volunteer team "We Are Together" of the Faculty of Philology: third-year students Ksenia Begeza, Yulia Bogdevich, and Anna Savitskaya. The head of the delegation was Ksenia Bakharevich, a lecturer at the Department of English Philology.

The organizers prepared a rich program for the guests. The volunteers took part in a dialogue session with a tasting of healthy products, a training session on "How to Avoid Stress", a theater forum, as well as discussion platforms on the dangers of drugs, addiction prevention, and maintaining psychological well-being. The students participated in an interactive sports area called "Youth Health – The Future of the Country!" where they tried their hand at various sports and forms of wrestling, and also learned the basics of self-massage.

As part of the forum, the volunteers also honored the memory of war heroes by laying flowers at the Memorial Complex to the Liberators of Pinsk.

Special moments of the festival included planting an alley dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Polessky State University, as well as a visit by the participants to the Pinsk Children's Hospice "Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children with the Home Church of the Holy Martyr Tsarevich Alexius". The festival guests not only visited the hospice but also cleaned up the adjacent forest area.

In addition to the activities, the festival participants discussed who a volunteer is, what areas of activity exist, and how volunteer work is organized in different regions.

The festival of youth teams became a platform where activists exchange experiences, make business contacts, and draw inspiration for new projects.