March 23, 2011
Celebrating Navruz, the spring equinox holiday, is a beautiful and eagerly-awaited festivity. This year, on March 23, the Fund Forum and its partners combined the festivities with a celebration of the sixth birthday of the Women`s Council. Its founder and chairwoman of its Organizing Council, Gulnara Karimova, welcomed guests that included leading culture and art professionals, scholars, officials of international organizations and members of the diplomatic corps. The celebration was attended by over 300 people.
Fund Forum`s yard, festooned with colorful ribbons, balloons and flowers, bustled with music and festivities as the organizers and the invited guests celebrated Navruz and the sixth anniversary of the Women`s Council. To add to the oriental atmosphere, the guests had been asked to ensure their clothes contained a national element. At the entrance, the guests were invited to taste traditional oriental drink sherbet.
Moreover, kuk-somsas were being cooked in a tandir (clay oven) in addition to scrumptious pilaf and, of course, sumalak, a traditional culinary delight prepared in a large cauldron-like pot during Navruz celebrations. Many of the guests participated in the preparation of sumalak by taking turns to stir the paste in the pot with a special utensil with a long handle. Customarily, each person made a wish while stirring sumalak. Also, prize games were organized for the guests.
The concert held during the event featured performances by Zulaikho Boikhonova, Abdukhoshim Ismoilov, Rashid Halikov, Abdulla Shomagrupov, Nilufar Usmonova, and Hulkar Abdullayeva among others. Also, members of “Oltin qanot” kindergarten, “Kelajak ovozi” (Voice of the future) Youth Initiative Center and the Social Initiatives Support Fund extended congratulations to the Women`s Council.
The national director of Special Olympics Uzbekistan, Gulnara Saidova, took the floor and presented Gulnara Karimova, the chairperson of the Women`s Council`s Organizing Council, with a Certificate of Recognition awarded to the organization for its dedication to and support of Special Olympics and signed by the president and managing director Mary Davis and director of organizational development Krzysztof Krukowski.
The guests, sharing their impressions, said the event was truly memorable as it was a great opportunity to join one of the most beautiful spring holidays of the Uzbek nation.
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Warm get-together on a wintry day