The conference.
The conference in Minsk focused on stepping into a new century, taking good parts of society with us, and leaving the bad behind.
The conference took place in the IBB centre, a very modern German conference centre, possibly the most modern building in Minsk. During the conference, each country made presentations to the other countries, to answer questions asked about life in their country, which were asked before the conference. Other activities included painting the walls of a school for children with sight problems, visitng the Belarussian Friendship Society, and spending a weekend with a Belarussian family.
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The birth of our project.
At the end of the conference, we invited our Belarussian partners to visit us in England. Unfortunatly, we were told that such a trip would be impossible as they simply couldn't afford the aeroplane tickets.
A high school teacher in Belarus would be paid an average of 23 English Pounds per month. Whilst not living in total poverty, the vast majority of Belarussians simply can't afford to travel outside of Eastern Europe. Unphased by this, we decided to raise the money ourselves.
Looking at the cost of bringing some Belarussian students to England, we found that to bring all of the group that took part in the conference (15) would cost about £6000. To bring a group of 6 would cost around £3000.
After a short time, it was clear that that £6000 would be out of our reach. This was mainly due to poor responses from local companies, and being unable to obtain EU funding. £3000 became the target.
Bag packs at supermarkets were planned, and thanks to the help of friends, proved a success. A sponsored boxing day dip in the sea at Redcar, and a quiz night have also helped. Details of the fundraising activites so far can be found on the home page.
So far........
At April 2001, the fund total stands at around £2400!! This will pay the transport costs for a group of six Belarussians to come to England. The task now is to find the extra £600 for activity costs. WE CAN DO IT!!
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