In the early morning of 26 July, persons under international protection from Belarus, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, Russia, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka went on a joint exploratory excursion to Liepāja –the city of music – to discover the cultural canon Music.
Having arrived in Liepāja, we were welcomed at the centre Namīns of the folklore group Atštaukas, where the folklore group told the participants about Latvian annual holidays, teaching various games, dances and songs. Asylum seekers from Afghanistan admitted that this was their first experience getting to know Latvian cultural traditions and in their opinion many elements of our countries are similar. The participants were surprised that the folklore group tries to attract the younger generation so that Latvian holiday traditions are continued.
The main family value is the heir, which is equally important in all cultures. The folklore group invited representatives of each culture through a game to sing their country’s lullaby. At the end of the activity, everyone joined in a song and dance. The members of Atštaukas were very surprised how well some of those present already spoke Latvian, even more surprised to learn that some of them have only resided in Latvia for 20 days, but were able to communicate and respond in Latvian.
After sitting for a long time during the trip from Riga, then dancing and singing together with the folklore group, a little tired, but still ready to explore Liepāja, the participants had the opportunity to visit the concert hall Lielais Dzintars.
After a long walk through the musical and beautiful Liepāja, a journalist from Belarus Vika Trenas shared her experience of life in Tukums with a Latvian family. Vika admits that it is most efficient to integrate and learn the language in small towns and not in big cities, where intermediate languages are used. Vika is very grateful for being welcomed in a Latvian family, where she learns and speaks Latvian. You can get to know traditions best by preparing for and celebrating holidays together. Vika devotes a lot of energy to educating the residents of her country about the political situation there, because the citizens feel that the political situation internally corresponds to their conceptions. Vika also received several questions from other participants about her professional field, as well as about what surprised and thrilled her most about living in a Latvian family.
At the end of the event, the participants admitted that they were very inspired, seeing that life goes on not only in Riga, but also in other cities and towns, and there are also opportunities to live, work, study and be socially active. The participants are grateful for the opportunity to spend the day outside ASC Mucenieki. For some, it is the first time outside of Riga, some have already managed to visit and get to know Liepāja. Some are meeting each other for the first time in person, because they have been learning Latvian together for the last 3 months through the Zoom platform, where they only saw each other on a small video camera. Someone else admits that they are seeing the sea for the first time in their life and that these will be the best memories from Liepāja. Someone else found the architecture of Liepāja very surprising, that students study in a gymnasium – a building which is very luxurious, just like palaces in their country.
Support Actions for Persons Under International Protection III project is implemented with the support of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and is co-financed by the European Union. Grant agreement No. PMIF/9/2020/3/02
