NEWSLINK: Ten reasons for Russians to be proud of their country

(Ten reasons for Russians to be proud of their country – Russia  Beyond the Headlines/ Russky Repoter – December 31, 2012 – click here for full article)

Russia  Beyond the Headlines covers Russky Reporter magazine’s list of 2012 events it argues should stir Russian pride.  They focuses on volunteers first:

Volunteers

The birth of the volunteer movement is usually traced to the season of wild forest fires in 2010 when many people voluntarily helped the victims for no remuneration.

Yet even earlier many took part in various civil affairs, from helping children’s orphanages to independent journalism. In the past two years social problems reached a critical mass.

There’s the “blue buckets” that spot traffic rule violators and wage a battle against drivers who illegally put blinking lights on their cars. There’s the environmental movement that protested against the building of a highway through the Khimki Forest. And the crusade against the embezzlement of government money launched by Alexei Navalny …

At the elections last winter, there was a record number of volunteer observers who informed the public about vote-rigging, triggering a civil protest campaign in Moscow.

Then there was the flooding in Krymsk, when thousands if not tens of thousands of people collected relief supplies and went to the city to clean up the aftermath of the disaster.

Click here to read full article: http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/12/31/ten_reasons_for_russians_to_be_proud_of_their_country_21601.html