Solidarity starts with you.

For solidarity as a word, were given many definitions. Well, you can define it, but there is another question – how can you express it ,and show,and do solidarity in life? We all perfectly know what it means, but what have we and people around us done to live in the world of solidarity? When I said that solidarity starts with you, starts with every person, I meant it. We cannot just talk about solidarity and do zero actions in that direction at the same time. Solidarity for me was and is still being defined not by words but by actions of people and environment which surround me. During my life, I experienced and saw so many acts of solidarity (and I am still experiencing and see it) that I decided to summarize the acts of solidarity which I have experienced and seen in my life here to show how I define what is solidarity.

Solidarity is when your family teaches you to respect everyone and serve a local community, like…

-My Dad, a doctor, who has been a blood donor for 15 years - solidarity is about giving;

-My Mom, who refused to go to make a fantastic career as a biology and chemistry scientist but chose to stay and work at school in the community - solidarity is about sacrificing;

-My older brother, who always lives simply, humbly and honestly and people feel that and reach for him like a flower reaches for the sun - solidarity is about being humble and first being beautiful and calm inside;

-My small nephew, who never stops learning and exploring about the world, accepting everything with surprise and a smile – solidarity is about acceptance of differences with a not criticizing attitude;

-All my family, who respect and honor our ethnical Kazakh roots, Kazakh culture and traditions, while being born and living all their life in Russia  – solidarity is about being a world citizen whenever you are born without forgetting your roots;

Solidarity is when your friends and your environment show how to treat every person with respect regardless of any circumstances or situations which happen, like…

-My junior school teacher, Svetlana Anatolyevna, who became our best friend from the first grade and the teacher for the life - solidarity is about being a good role model and a friend, not just doing your work;

-My physiology professor at the university, who babysitted during her lecture with her student's baby child, because the student couldn’t leave her child at home and miss the lecture -  solidarity is about understanding the needs of other people und putting oneself into one’s own shoes;

-My friend Sasha, who felt in love and married the girl, whose Muslim parents were against their marriage, because Sasha was Christian but Sasha didn’t give up - solidarity is about accepting a person just the way he or she is, despite of social standards, requirements and rules;

-One of my best friends Lunara, who quitted her good – paying governmental job, and opened a charity shop to share clothes, shoes with those who in need  - solidarity is about understanding that money is not the most important thing which can unite people;

-My Ukrainian friends, who openly do not like Russia, and in spite that I am from Russia - they still are my friends, because politics should not ruin bridges between persons – solidarity is more about relationships based on friendship, not politics;

-My volunteer colleague Sampath,  a 74 years old retired college professor from India, who came from India to volunteer at the Olympic Games 2016 to Brazil - solidarity is about dedication to something that unites people and that everyone is accepted despite of his or her age;

Solidarity is when your place, community, country where you were born or currently living or working for teaches you to be active in your own social life and to live in peace with others, like…

-My homecountry Russia, where 190 nations live together for many centuries – solidarity is about nations’ unity;

-My coolest  ESC receiving organization, who hires refugees and immigrants, helping them to integrate into a society – solidarity is about giving opportunity to other people regardless of their nationality, origin or race;

-250 000 people, demonstrating at the streets of Berlin last autumn to support refugees and immigrants and fighting against racism – solidarity is about having one common goal for good;

-Germany, the country which is still teaching me a lot, being for me one of the leading advocate countries in human rights, anti-discrimination and gender equality;

-One of the coolest and amazing opportunities to be an European Solidarity Corps volunteer, to learn by doing and most importantly to learn how to build a world of solidarity inside and outside of myself.

Solidarity is when choosing right resources which can aspire to inspire and motivate you to be more tolerant…

-John Lennon, thanks to his music, to the Beatles in general, I started learning English and IMAGINEd living in a world of persons, living life in peace and trying to make this world a little bit better place by living with solidarity. as a human.

In the end I would like to say that solidarity can be defined by words, but it's much better when you see or feel solidarity in action - let it be your own actions or actions of the people who surround you. Creating a world of solidarity is not that hard as it seems to be. And if you want to change the world, go home and love your family (Mother Theresa); and if you want to live in a world of solidarity – you have to start with yourself, because solidarity starts with you (Zhanna Tlegenova).

*December 20th, the day assigned by the UNO as the International Human Solidarity Day