According to the tradition, the event took place at the Hyatt Regency hotel. It’s been 4 years since the last meeting in 2006. In 2008 Belarusians met in Cleveland.

The main purpose of the Convention was to see old friends from all over the Unites States and Canada, and meet new ones. Besides warm friendly conversations a two-day program included discussions concerning problematic issues of the country, and of course, a party – a convention ball and a concert.

The guests of the meeting (residents of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota and Canadian cities) were able to buy Belarusian books, magazines, CDs with recordings of the Belarusian performers, icons and other hand-made crafts. The Belarusian museum in New York exhibited more than 30 paintings: landscapes by Yahor Batalionak and Ales’ Shaternik; portraits, flowers and dolls made by our artist Valiantsina Yakimovich. Also the embroidered icons by Lyubov Karpava were first exhibited to a wide range of Belarusians. They are indeed impressive.

It was exciting to see most of the guests of the Convention wearing traditional Belarusian red and white color outfits.

The Convention started with a welcoming speech by the Chairman of the Belarusian-American Association (BAZA) of New Jersey, Yuri Azarka. Afterwards, there were greetings of state government officials such as Governor Chris Christie, Congressman Christopher Smith, Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendes.

Congressman Frank Palone visited Biennial Convention of Belarusians of North America as well. Dressed in a casual jacket and jeans he demonstrated good knowledge of the Belarusian issues. Palone’s wife’s parents are from Belarus. The Congressman was pretty impressed by seeing so many guests at the meeting wearing national Belarusian outfits, and he tried to understand the differences between Russian and Belarusian languages.

The Congressman eagerly expressed his desire to support the Belarusian community in the US on Belarusian issues before the Congress and expressed words of support to the efforts of Belarusians on the way to democracy.

Frank Palone

The second part of the Convention started with a group discussion. Honoring the memory of Larisa Heniush and talk about her life’s path, assistance to the opposition forces in Belarus and the role of the immigration in the fight for free Belarus.

These were three main topics of the symposium. Each group was given one and a half hours for discussion and afterwards the moderators of the groups summarized the key points of each question, making conclusions and suggestions.

Victims of the regime and how to find a way to help them, was the topic of the first group. First, it was necessary to determine who the victims of the regime were. It is known that the victims are people who have suffered because of their political views, including students, expelled from schools for participating in rallies; those, who made political appeals. Some family members and relatives of victims also can be considered as victims. In general, the list of Belarusian problems and issues can be continued almost indefinitely: human rights are violated every day, there is no freedom of speech, the courts are not independent, and people do not have the opportunity to establish trade unions, or be members of social organizations and political parties.

The majority of the group agreed that educated youth are mostly the victims. They are active, and increasingly involved in public life. They have a better understanding of their history, culture and traditions through the internet and other means of information. We know that they need support. A good example of assistance is the program of 2006 “Kalinowski” for students who were expelled from universities for their political activity.

The role of expatriates in the fight for free Belarus was the subject of the second group discussion.

It turned spirited with the very active participation of Anton Shukeloyts. He gave a broad overview of the current situation in the Belarusian community and the country, emphasizing that the role of immigrants depends firstly on the situation in Belarus. And now particularly the wave of immigrants of 1990-2000 is increasing their influence in the community.

“They are trying to integrate into American life of the older generations of Belarusians and we have to help them,” Mr. Shukeloyts said.

The third group discussed the personal and social life of Larisa Heniush. She is the one who may be called the victim of the Soviet regime, a dissident and a true fighter. Larisa Heniush, a poet who lived her life in Belarus, and whose name is almost unknown within Belarus. Her name stands along with such classics as Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, Maxim Bahdanovich, Uladzimir Karatkevich. If Vasil Bykau is called the conscience of Belarus, we can call Larisa Heniush the spiritual mother of our country.

Despite efforts of Belarusians to have her included within the education curriculum the government continues to exclude her poetry from the classroom.

The attitude of the government expressed towards the poet shows how “Belarusian” the government is and how they value the history and the culture of the country.

The participants of the meeting agreed to organize a party dedicated to Larisa Heniush.

After listening to the speakers, the official part of the Convention was over. The guests had a chance to watch a movie “The Unconquered”, dedicated to 100th Anniversary of Larisa Heniush.

The most entertaining part of the event began after a short break when everyone started dancing and singing. Even people who were celebrating weddings in the neighboring halls of the hotel came over for a dance. They were from Ireland and India. They were pretty impressed by the life music of our prominent Belarus singers Valiantsina Parhomenka, Ales Kazak and Oliya, who was singing songs from her album. Belarusian national dancing and round lays were very much liked y Irish and Indian guests, even better than their own festivities.

It was a pleasure to learn that Belarusians became known worldwide and that we can have a good time better than the cheerful Irish people :)

On Sunday, the 5th of September, there was a service in the church of St. Mary of Zyrovicy in Highland Park. It was conducted by Farther Zinovi and Bishop Svyataslau of Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The church was full of people and it was a great beginning of a warm sunny day.

The organizers were pleased the attendance at the Convention was higher on a second day than the first.

Bishop Svyataslau praised with a good word and prayed for the people who were at the Convention.

Greeting letters were sent by the government officials: Governor Chris Kristy, Congressman Christopher Smith, and Senator Robert Menendez. Here are some quotes from their letters: “I am very glad to welcome the participants of the 29th Biennial Convention of Belarusians in North America, who came to New-Brunswick on the 4th of July, the biggest American holiday. Sincerely apologize for not being here with you. I have an honor to be a Governor of one of the diverse states in the whole country of the USA. The Belarusian community in the state of New Jersey greatly contributes to the development of the state. I highly appreciate the initiative of each and every one of you here in spreading and supporting the ideals of democracy and freedom in Belarus”, - The Governor highlighted.

Congressman Christopher Smith mentioned the violation of human rights in Belarus. In short, he listed the worst of them them and also talked about the meeting he had with Lukashenka, which took place a year ago: “In June 2009 me and my colleagues from the Congress had a personal meeting with Lukashenka in Minsk. We pointed out that the development of the relationship between Belarus and America will depend on the progress in providing protection of human rights and improvement of other democratic processes in the country. But Lukashenka’s point of view regarding the idea of the human rights was one-sided. That is why we need to continue helping Belarusians. Therefore the Act of Democracy, which I authored, accepted in 2004 and then 2006 gave the president of the country opportunities to gather support from the Belarusian community and launch sanctions against the regime of Lukashenka. Thank you so much for your reat work for the benefit of the Belarus people. I am optimistic about the future of the nation and really hope that the support you are giving to your compatriots will be influential and important for the country”.

Robert Menendez said about the role of the Belarusian American Association (BAZA) for the Belarusian community in the US and Belarus: “Belarusian American Association is a non-profit organization, which was established in order to promote Belarus culture and education in The United States. All these years BAZA has also taken part in numerous actions aimed to encourage independence and democracy within Belarus. Belarus has a long and complicated history of struggling for its independence. This Convention is a proof to all of us that the fight for free democratic country is still going on. I do greatly appreciate the outstanding work of the Belarusian community for spreading democratic ideas and struggling for human rights. I, as a US Senator, will be working for the benefit of all the people of the state of NJ. My dearest wish is to make this event successful and unforgettable!”

Anton Shukeloyts thanked everyone for keeping the tradition of the Convention going and challenged younger generations of the Belarusians in America to continue it. After mentioning about the 100 year anniversary of Larysa Heniush, Anton (the oldest and one of the most prominent leaders of the Belarusian American Association) talked about the influence of other Belarusian activists Vitaut Tumash and Leanid Halyak.

Anton talked about the problems that Belarus is facing right now. He pointed out that Belarusians were celebrating the event not only in New Brunswick, but also in South River.

Despite his age, Mr. Shukeloyts touched everyone with the depth of his thoughts. In his speech he analyzed the situation in the Belarusian community, comparing it to the different historical periods. He mentioned a lot of names of people, who fought for our country during the different times in history and there were a lot of mistakes made. Having difficulties and mistakes – is a common and temporary thing. But Mr. Shukeloyts is confident that there is always a hope when there are younger generations of Belarusians, strongly believing and fighting for the prosperity of the country.

Other leading figures of the Belarusian American Association congratulated everyone: Vital Zaika - a leader of New York branch of BAZA, Archbishop Alexander – the Leader of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church in the US and Pavel Marozau - coordinator of the Congress of the New Belarusian Diaspora of Europe and the USA and a member of The Belarusian People Republic (BNR Rada).

Archbishop Alexander, the leader of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church sent his greeting speech from Detroit: “I sincerely welcome all the participants of the 29th Biennial Convention of Belarusians of North America in New Brunswick, NJ, and greatly wish in my prays the decisions about the role of  the immigration in the struggle for free Belarus were taken in integrity and onsent, and thus we will support the struggle of the nation in Belarus. Long Live, Belarus.”

Here are the greeting words of Pavel Marozau: ”I kindly greet you all at the Convention and wish this event would bring great results. I have always liked to work with the Belarus Community of Northern America and considered you as one of the most successful in the world. Things are not always smooth in the community either. There are arguments between those who are willing to work for the benefit of the country, and those who just strongly wish to be in power. I do hope that the truth always wins and our Belarus community here will be united again.”

Resolution of the 29th Convention was accepted at the end of the official part of the event.

Second day the concert by “Kazak Trio”, Belarusian folk singer Zmicier Slyapovich, Syarzyk Sokalau-Voyush and singer Olyia made the banquet unbelievably beautiful.

Second day the concert by “Kazak Trio”, Belarusian folk singer Zmicier Slyapovich, Syarzyk Sokalau-Voyush and singer Olyia made the banquet unbelievably beautiful.