Wheelchair marathon to be held in Vitebsk

May 29, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. A wheelchair marathon will be held today in Vitebsk, the October district organization of the Belarusian Red Cross Society informed a BELTA correspondent. Thirty wheelchair users and 60 volunteers from among the students of Vitebsk State Medical University, the Academy of Veterinary Medicine and vocational schools of the city will take part in the charity event. The event will start on Victory Square with laying flowers and wreaths at the Eternal Flame. Then, the participants, divided into two groups, will travel along Lenin Street to the Holy Assumption Cathedral and take a boat trip along the Western Dvina River on the "Vitebsk" ship to the Park of the Soviet Army and back. The marathon is held in accordance with the local youth initiative "For an Independent Lifestyle" with the aim of providing moral support to people with disabilities, involving them in an active lifestyle, physical education, developing active rehabilitation and assistive technologies, and exchanging experience in the integration and rehabilitation of wheelchair users. The organizers are confident that the event will draw the attention of citizens and local authorities to the need for further development of a barrier-free environment in the regional center, and will also contribute to attracting young people to the volunteer movement. The event is held during the annual republican month of the Belarusian Red Cross Society. The plan for its implementation in the Vitebsk region is quite extensive. Thus, on May 8, a youth event "Happy Birthday, Red Cross!" was held in the city's higher education institutions. On May 12, students from Glubokoye took part in Daugavpils in first aid competitions among high school students from Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia. Last week, a delegation from the German Red Cross from the city of Syke visited Vitebsk to exchange work experience on the program "Humanitarian Aid to Medical Institutions of the Vitebsk Region," and its members brought humanitarian aid for the region's medical institutions. In addition to the wheelchair marathon, events dedicated to World No Tobacco Day and the International Day of Remembrance of people who died from AIDS will be held in the region in the near future. Round tables and seminars for volunteers on disseminating knowledge about the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, its fundamental principles, and the basics of humanitarian law are also being held everywhere in the district organizations. -0-