About Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Minsk is the capital of Belarus; other major cities include Brest, Hrodna (Grodno), Homiel (Gomel), Mahilyow (Mogilev) and Vitsebsk (Vitebsk). The territory of Belarus is 207, 595 km². The population is 9, 457, 000 people.

Belarus has temperate continental climate. The average temperature in October is about +10°C and usually it’s rainy, so don’t forget your umbrellas and raincoats.

Belarus is generally a very flat country (the highest hill is Mount Dzyarzhynskaya, 345 meters). About 40 % of the country is forested. There are more than 10, 000 lakes in Belarus. All in all, Belarusian nature is very beautiful and picturesque.

Belarus has a long, complicated history and it can become a real adventure and great experience for the participants to visit our projects and to see how different, yet in many ways so similar to other European countries Belarus is!

Belarus has four World Heritage Sites: the Mir Castle Complex, the Niasvizh Castle, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (shared with Poland), and the Struve Geodetic Arc (shared with nine other countries).

Some beautiful videos about Belarus:

Belarus. One Day in Life https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=MkUzeYWa7-8

Belarus Nature https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9T8Ak60crRM

Minsk is the capital of the country with nearly 2 mln population. Minsk was first mentioned in the historical chronicles in 1067 and this date is considered to be the birthdate of the city, but as up to 80% of the city has been destroyed during the 2nd World War, the buildings are mainly of the soviet period. However, there’s a number of interesting sights, some nice museums and galleries, beautiful places in Minsk.

Here’s a nice guide about Minsk: https://34mag.net/post/minsk/

Belarus has 2 official languages: Russian and Belarusian. Absolute majority speaks Russian as their 1^st language. Some young people speak English and other foreign languages.

124 – Urucca, the 1^st station if you’re coming from Minsk International Airport

119 – Akademija Navuk, LYVS office

114 – Plosca Lienina, the Central Railway Station

Some practical info:

Belarusian currency is Belarusian rouble. Any other currency is not accepted in the shops/restaurants/clubs etc, but you can easily exchange the money in the banks. Please, do not exchange money from private persons. Do it in the banks or currency exchange offices only!

Here you can find the daily updates about the exchange rates: https://www.nbrb.by/engl/statistics/Rates/RatesDaily.asp

When entering the country you’ll be offered to fill in the migration card. Please, do so and it’s important not to lose it!!!

If you’re coming by plane to Minsk International Airport, please, do not take taxi to the city (it’s too expensive). Better wait for the bus (it costs about 30.000 – 40.000 BYR, which is 2-3 euro). You can buy the tickets from the driver.

All foreign citizens (except the citizens of Russian Federation, Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia), who stay in Belarus for more than 5 working days should be registered in the local migration office. This procedure will be done by LYVS. The cost is 75.000 BYR (about 6 euro) is to be paid by the participants.

THE VENUE

Accommodation

- While staying in Minsk we will be accommodated in “Kinonija” hotel owned by the Christian brotherhood.

- You will be accommodated in in rooms of 2-3-4 persons, rooms are big, and so there will be enough space.

- Bed-clothes are provided, small towels for face also, but please bring towel for shower.

- We will have dinner in the city one evening so take with you some comfortable shoes and clothes.

- There is a free wi- fi available for us.

- Please note the there is no shop available in walking distance, so please do not forget shampoos, toothpaste, other things you might need.

- The house is very warm, and also clean, so we suggest you take with you some shoes which you can wear inside (smth. like summer sport shoes)

- Average weather in November in Minsk is characterized by rapidly falling daily high temperatures, with daily highs decreasing from 6°C to 1°C over the course of the month, exceeding 11°C or dropping below -6°C.

Follow the forecast here: https://www.weathercity.com/by/minsk/

Food

- Mostly Belarusian cuisine will be served however we will respect religious / diet customs of participants (any special needs should be informed already in the registration form);

- there will be breakfast, lunch (that in Belarus consist of two meals: soup and ‘second meal’) and supper;

- There will be also some fruits and cookies as well as hot tea and coffee available during the breaks.

- Please make sure that you inform us about you dietary requirements IN ADVANCE- vegetarians, allergies etc. House will buy products for the training course in advance, so it will be very difficult to adapt on spot.

- For the intercultural evening - please bring some national drinks and food and national symbols or any legal thing that your fantasy will say youJ

Rules of the hotel

- you are not allowed to smoke in the rooms; there are special places for smoking;

- drugs are strictly prohibited;

- there must be silence outside the building after 11.00 p.m. - we should respect other people,. Inside the hotel, we should also keep the noise down after 11.00 p.m., so as not to disturb participants who are trying to sleep.

PARTICIPANTS & WORKING LANGUAGE:

Training course in Minsk are intended for participants from Netherlands, Croatia, Belarus, Romania, Armenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Greece, Georgia, Russian Federation, Poland The working language is English, but with possible support and solutions for non-English speakers.

PREPARATION

Please make sure you bring the following:

- information about your organisation for the NGO Fair

- food, drinks, music etc for the Intercultural Evening

- information and materials about successful youth leadership initiatives implemented by your organisation (including tools, methods, multimedia material etc)

If you have a question about travel to Minsk or another logistical issues please contact:

· Yuliya Paulichenka, LYVS, Tel/Fax: +375 17 2840784, Mobile: +375 295664840, yuliya.paulichenka@gmail.com liga.lyvs@gmail.com

· Chris van maanen, Rock solid foundation, Tel. 0031 318 487979, Mobile: +31 6 25011126, chris@chrisvanmaanen.nl

Daily program “lets decide together! ” It is a Short version in order not giving away the surprises J

Training course on democracy and disabilities and decision making in Europe and in the eastern partnering countries in the frame of the window for eastern Europe.

THIS IS A SHORT VERSION, TO KEEP SOME “SECRETS”, EVERY COUNTRY HAS TO DO A SMALL PART, I WILL SEND EVERY COUNTRY THE COMPLETE DESCRITION OF THEIR ACTIVITY OF COURSE J

Day 1^st starting to get to know each other / arrivals of the last participants.

BECAUSE WE WANTED SOME NEW CHALLEGES WE DECIDED TO SEARCH IN SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS TO SEARCH FOR ALL KIND OF NEW ACTIVITIES WE NEVER USED BEFORE. THEY COME FROM; DOMINO; ALL DIFFERENT ALL EQUAL; SALTO TOOLBOX; COMPASS; T-KITS FROM YIA; AND SEVERAL OTHER PUBLICATIONS. WE DID ADAPT ALL THE ACTIVITIES TO THE TOPICS OF THE TC AND THE FACT THAT WE HAVE 8-10 PEOPLE WITH LIMITATIONS J

13.00 lunch