Our Strength is in Unity
The closing ceremony of the festival, which included giving out awards and a concert became the culminating point of the festival “The Earth is our home”.
Professor V.S. Sevostianov, vice-chancellor on innovation technologies and graduates employment cordially welcomed the participants of this large-scale event, which brought together over 500 foreign students from Asia, Africa and Latin America taking their courses in Belgorod universities. Vladimir Semenovich pointed out that “ In our times, which are not that simple, when all human beings in the Earth are living under the threat of natural and technogenic disasters, only friendship and mutual understanding between the nations will allow to solve the most complicated problems. Our strength is in unity!”
Doctor of technology R.V. Lesovik, vice-chancellor on international affairs, that the number of foreign students in Belgorod universities is growing from year to year. M.N. Trubitsyn, the Head of international liaison Department at Belgorod State University underlined that “Russia is a huge and rich state, but the main treasure for us is knowledge, which we readily share with the representatives of different nations. I am sure that our graduates will be able to make an immense contribution into the development of their own countries”.
Presenting the awards to the winners in a soccer tournament, the head of the Department of Physical Education and Sports, professor S.I. Kramskoy said: "I am pleased that you are not only successful in your studies, but are also involved in sports and creative activities. Stay as active in your own lives as you were on the football pitch". The audience burst into applause when the time came to give awards to soccer teams. The third place was awarded to a team of Nigeria, the second to the Ghanaian team, and the team from Angola became the cup winners.
And then, all those present were offered a colorful, vivid and emotional concert. It is symbolic that the performance opened with a song, performed by all the participants "We are the world!" in English.
Belgorod Institute of Culture and Arts, represented by vocal and dance folk group “Veselitsa” performed in a highly professional and expressive way, creating a wonderful mood. The next part of the performance was also dedicated to the Russian culture, Russian romance songs performed by the students of Belgorod state university from Russia and Brasil. They not only perfectly conveyed the musical richness of Russian romance, the mood of the songs, but also brought blues tints to these famous ballads.
But foreign students studying in Belgorod state academy of agriculture are acquainted not only with the Russian, but also with the Ukrainian culture. A well-known Ukrainian folk song was greeted with a storm of enthusiasm.
In general, the foreign students were performing so emotionally, that you involuntarily passed their mood to the audience, who genuinely shared emotions with all the artists.
Hot dances of Latin America were followed with tenderness of a distant homeland songs sang by students from Oman ("Oh, my Oman!").
Students from Afghanistan are especially active in participating in artistic events at BSTU.
Students from Arab countries were replaced by representatives of Cambodia and China. Cambodian students didn’t limit themselves just by singing a song, but also presented a colorful slide show describing this country in the East.
Memorable performances by the representatives from Africa have pleased all the audience. It looked like that the students from different countries of the continent were passing a baton pf a relay race, demonstrating the richness and diversity of cultural traditions. The audience vigorously supported the performers by the applause, enthusiastic chants and singing.
A real gift for the teachers of the preparatory faculty for foreign students at BSTU was the performance of their students with words of gratitude and song, which they independently invented "Our faculty is the best! We are a big family together".
The festival has become a wonderful unforgettable holiday of friendship between the peoples. Events like this contribute to the development of mutual understanding between the nations.
Victoria Goryainova