Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the joint observance of the important May dates: Mother’s Day (May, 11) and the International Day of Families (15 May). We have explored the UN's International Day of Families web pages.. The theme for 2014 is "Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals". We decided to focus on the role of families in development and touched upon the following issue in our discussion:
- promoting a Marriage-Friendly Culture.
The club members exchanged their views on “pro”s and “contra”s of marriage in the modern Ukrainian society.
Mother's Day in the United States is annually held on the second Sunday of May. It celebrates motherhood and appreciation of mothers and mother figures. Watching a beautiful slide show with verses about mothers created the relevant atmosphere. Our foreign club member Prince told us about the tradition in his country, the Ukrainian club members explained the situation in Ukraine.
To practice interpreting skills the club members illustrated the cult of Mother in Ukrainian culture with You Tube videos of popular songs about mother. The biggest challenge (as always in the cross-cultural communication) was to explain the symbolism used in the songs’ lyrics.
The session was quiet but quite educational.
Number of participants – 12 persons.
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