Leslaw Morawski, the District 2230 Governor 2012/13, has been planning to visit Belarus for a long time, until finally there was the important reason for the trip, so it can not be postponed anymore – a presentation of the Charter to a new Rotary Club. Of course, the Governor as always managed to do a lot of important things at the same time: almost every minute of his three-day stay in Minsk was thoroughly planned. The Governor was able to talk with all three Minsk Rotary clubs – with heads of committees, to pay a visit to the Department of Humanities, where he held a private meeting with the Vise President Leonid Vladimirovich Chavko, to visit the Embassy of Poland and talk with the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Belarus Leshek Sherepka.

A presentation of the Charter to a new club is always a very important event, because Rotary Clubs live long – some of them are more than a century.

The Belarusian Rotarians, trying to make the event solemn enough but not pompous at the same time, chose for the meeting not big, cozy and rather stylish Hall of Dom Moskvi.

The tribune was specially removed from the stage and placed closer to the first row to break the atmosphere of officialdom and turn the meeting into a discussion of friends and colleagues who talk as equals, sharing their experiences and opinions.

There was another important reason not to take the stage – it was given to the musicians. Enjoying a case, the Belarusian Rotarians held a «dress rehearsal» for the upcoming festival named after Czeslaw Niemen. Musicians have clearly shown the visitor from Poland that they know modern Polish music well and that it is very close to Belarusian one.

A wonderful Minsk group «Pawa» opened the meeting, which is evolved in reconstruction and modern treatment of old Belarusian tunes.

Leslaw Morawski, a lawyer by profession, was an experienced and charismatic public speaker. He easily captured the audience's attention – at the same time the language barrier was not a barrier at all. There were a lot of topics to discuss with the Governor – from the first of July 2013 new Rotary rules come into force – Future Vision Plan, which fully changes a lot of things in the organization to which club members have been getting used for many years.

As expected, Leslaw Morawski finished his speech with the most important topic for the sake of which, in fact, everyone gathered.

To the applauses the members of a new-born club went to the tribune and got insignia of Rotaract and the main document, a proof of formality, legality, and the attachment of Rotaract club «Minsk» to the organization «Rotary International» – the Charter.

It happened so that it had been personally signed by the acting president of «Rotary International» Sakudzi Tanaka.

Besides, there were other performances. The President of a very active Rotaract Club «Ratusha» Andrey Morozov told about what Rotaract clubs, that have been functioning for a long time, do in Belarus.

The Governor was absolutely impressed by a performance of Interact club «Minsk», which includes students before 18 years.

For Leslaw Morawski there were two surprises in the speech: first, self-presentation was held in a good Polish, which the children of Interact know quite well, and secondly – the Governor did not even know that there is Interact in Belarus.

There was also the third surprise – projects, that had been carried on by the club during its short history, are really impressive.

While under this impression, the Governor immediately invited the members of Interact to pay a visit to Poland by his personal invitation.

Of course, there was a traditional gift exchange. Galina Shabaylova, the President-elect of RC «Minsk» 2013/14, personally made a present to the Governor – a collection plate and a set of traditional Belarusian linen napkins for his wife.

As it turned out, the gift got to the point, since Leslaw collects such items.

The Meeting ended the same way as it began – with music. Several songs from the repertoire of Czeslaw Niemen were played by the leader of the group «White Blues Band» Yuri Nesterenko.

A performance of a popular and legendary song of Niemen «Dzivny eats ten holy» by Peter Elfimov was the culmination of a remarkable evening. No, it was no coincidence that Peter received the Grand Prix at the festival «Slavic Bazaar» for the performance of this particular song.

At the end, when the participants of the meeting started to leave their places, there was another great band – «Vspulna vandrovka» that wonderfully performs songs from the repertoire of Anna Herman.

Of course, the audience sang the familiar childhood tunes along with the performers. It was a great final.

Text: Yury Budko
Photos: Vladimir Clybik, Elena Shamarova