On my last trip to Honolulu, as a traveler, I was lucky to meet a very cool person from Belarus. This was the first time for me to meet someone from that area of the world and I very much enjoyed getting to know him and learning some about Belarus.
Belarus has been an independent country since 1991 and been ruled by Alexander Lukashenko since 1994. He is considered the last remaining dictator in Europe. Freedom of speech and press is restricted by the government. Surrounded by Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland Belarus is a country of flatness, much like Minnesota in the US. It is covered by forests and lakes.
Minsk is the capital of Belarus. Fans of the T.V. show Friends may recognize this as the city that Phoebe's love interest, David, played by Hank Azaria, went to study Physics. I believe that is how I first learned of Minsk.
If the people of Belarus are anything like my friend in Honolulu, it is full of warm, friendly people who are suffering from an oppressing government. And this week they are hurting. On Monday, April 11, a bomb ripped through the main metro station, Oktyabrskaya, in Minsk, killing 12 people and injuring more than 200.
Why? No one knows, but the people of Belarus need our support. Learn more about this country here:
BBC News
CIA Fact Book
No comments:
Post a Comment