Riga, Latvia - Thirty people participated in an event dedicated to the celebration of Africa Day on May 29 in the Latvian Peace Embassy.
The program was opened by Mr. Leons Bojars, UPF-Latvia president, with a speech on the “Past, Present, and Future of Africa.” Among the distinguished guests was Mr. Zodegan, the chairman of the African association in Latvia, and his wife. He thanked the representatives of UPF for participating in the celebration organized by the African Society (AFROLAT) the day before. Then he gave an account of the present situation in African countries and shared about some specifics of African culture, emphasising an extended and strong family as one of most important traditions in African nations.
The ensemble "Silavoči” congratulated the participants in the celebration and sang a few songs from their repertoire.
In the program two videos were also shown: one revealed the beauty of traditional African songs, dances, nature, and resorts. The other video outlined briefly the activities of UPF. The program continued with a presentation by Janis Vjaters entitled "UPF's Peace Activity in Africa” and a talk by Tatyana Domaradzki on the topic of “Dream of Peace.”
As is UPF-Latvia's tradition, the program concluded with a banquet where guests shared recent news and their impressions of the program. In an informal setting there were also songs and a dance. The guests were uplifted by the atmosphere and didn't want to leave; they discussed ideas about future activities.