The award ceremony for the winners of the 7th International “Tell the World About Your Homeland” competition was held in Moscow.

This year, more than 60 participants from Russia and 21 foreign countries reached the final. Among them were children, teenagers and adults who presented creative works about their small homeland.

Ekaterina Averkina, president of the ANO “Innovative Centre for the Development and Education of Children and Youth” and one of the initiators of the competition, noted its important international mission in a comment for TV BRICS.

“We are people of the world. We work with children, and children are the same everywhere. They want love and friendship, and they are very open. When children from different countries, including BRICS countries, talk about their homeland, they not only introduce us to their culture, but also learn more about Russia themselves. The works are often done in Russian, and projects that emphasise the cultural similarities between countries are welcome,” she said.

Larisa Sanatovskaya, executive director of the All-Russian National Parents’ Association and a member of the jury, told TV BRICS about the criteria for evaluating the competition entries.

“The main thing is to show all the beauty of the material presented in a few minutes. We looked at how deeply the topic was explored and how vividly the region, village or country was presented. We took into account the level of presentation, illustrations, richness of language – right down to the use of the Ozhegov and Dal dictionaries. It was important that the work was worthy in all respects,” she said.

Silvia Fatima, the winner from Ecuador, has been studying in Russia for three years. In her work, she presented images of characters from Ecuadorian folklore, including Diablo Huma, a figure deeply rooted in the culture of the Caranqui people.

“I wanted to show our characters because they are important to Ecuador, and I think it is interesting to others. For example, Diablo Huma is like Baba Yaga from Russian fairy tales, the same recognisable folk image. I am very proud that I was able to talk about my culture here in Russia,” she shared in a conversation with TV BRICS.

On behalf of Ecuador’s Ambassador to Russia, Juan Fernando Holguin Flores, Consul Dolores Marybel Lopez Mendoza gave a speech of gratitude. She emphasised that participation in such international events is a great honour for the country and expressed her gratitude to the organisers for the opportunity to present Ecuadorian culture on such a platform.

Nikolay Ivanovsky, a participant from Armavir, Russia, presented a video work about the monument “Bow to Mother”. He spoke about motherhood as a universal human value.

“I come from a large family and found out about the competition by chance, thanks to my social worker Oksana Glebova. This competition is important because it makes us remember who we are and where we live. My video is about a very touching monument where the word ‘mother’ is written in different languages of the world. It shows that, despite our differences, we are all human beings, and we all have mothers. This makes us realise that we are more alike than we think,” he told the international media network.

He also shared that it is important for him to be sincere and that, in his opinion, this is the formula for true happiness.

Photo: TV BRICS