Aliaksandra Herasimenia: Belarusian national consciousness begins to wake up

The Mova Cup festival starts in Minsk on September 28.

Organisers say it is an unprecedented event in the history of Belarusian sport. Its peculiarity is that the festival will be held in Belarusian, Radio Svaboda reports.

The First National Sports Festival Mova Cup starts in the Republican Olympic Training Centre in Kalinouski Street on September 28. The idea of the festival belongs to famous Belarusian sportsmen from the Dreams Come True charity projects.

Prominent Belarusian swimmer Aliaksandra Herasimenia, the world and Europe champion, the Olympic champion, again gathers representatives of Belarusian sport and ordinary Belarusians on one venue. She says this year's event is special, because it has the “language” subtext. Herasimenia wears a T-shirt with the national pattern and talks to journalists in Belarusian, a bold act of her.

“How the idea did appear and why is it called the Mova Cup (Language Cup)?” she asks. “The language, 'mova', is what we have had from the ancient times, the times of the Radzivills and rebel Kastus Kalinouski. By the way, the festival is held in the street named after him. The 'Cup' is what we will have in future. The world is uniting and we should be ready for the future. The sense is that nations should differ from one another in the globalised world. I think our language is the first thing that would distinguish us. I cannot say why the Belarusians are ashamed to speak their native language. I have the impression that our national consciousness begins to wake up. More and more people try and want to speak Belarusian. I hope you, the journalists, will help us.”

Aliaksandra Herasimenia thinks more people should be involved in the return and popularisation of the language. Such events lead to victories, she says.

“We hope the number of Belarusian schools will stop decreasing and the image of our language will become undeniable, as it used to be,” she says. “I know that many children, even those going to Belarusian schools, don't speak Belarusian at home. I don't know why it's happening so, perhaps because people often laugh at those who speak Belarusian. I mean not only children, but also adults. This is wrong and ignorant. I hope the event this Sunday will be a step forward, the start of positive changes in the language issue.”