6 Days to FIUTS CulturalFest 2024!

“I strongly believe that intercultural dialogue can be a way to peace and understanding. Events like CulturalFest can help us build bridges, not walls!” 

Wanda Heydel, Booth Captain of Poland

FIUTS CulturalFest is an experience where you get to know more about a country beyond its name.   

FIUTS current Community Engagement Exchange (CEE) Fellow from Poland, Wanda Heydel, is going to show us the beautiful mountainous horizon lines and vibrant cities of Poland at the Expo, telling a story of how nature and landscape are also important factors in shaping culture.  

My name is Wanda Heydel, I come from Poland and I am a Community Engagement Exchange Fellow, working at FIUTS for a few months. I graduated from Hebrew and Middle Eastern Studies, but currently, I work in two Polish NGOs, focusing on civic dialogue and climate change. 

I strongly believe that intercultural dialogue can be a way to peace and understanding. Without getting to know other people, their cultures, and their backgrounds, we won't be able to understand their motivations, goals, and opinions. I hope that events such as CulturalFest can help us build bridges, not walls! 

I hope that working at the Polish Booth will be a new teamwork experience for me. Being a Booth Captain, and a leader, is a way for me to work on personal connections and share the Polish culture and my experience of life in Poland with everyone interested in it - including the great Booth team! 

I want to share as many various facts about Poland as possible - I would love for people to know where Poland is, how its language sounds, what its cities and nature are like, and especially how worth visiting it is! I often meet people who travel in Europe a lot, visit many countries neighboring Poland, but never visit my home country. Let's change that! 

I believe, that every meeting with a different culture or a person with different opinions and background, if it's in a good and peaceful atmosphere, can help us build bridges and foster connections. And when we create those, we work for peace and understanding in the world. 

Enjoy a scenic tour of Poland guided by Wanda at FIUTS CulturalFest 2024!