Crowds Flock to 59th International Bazaar

The 59th edition of the international community's #1 social and community-based event, the International Bazaar, is being held this week-end at LuxExpo the Box in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

While Saturday was cold, but dry, the snow came down on Sunday lunchtime which made travelling to and from the venue just that more tricky. However, this year, the Glacis car-park could be used, with LuxTram linking the two locations, making the challenge of parking at the venue that bit easier.

This year's bazaar featured 73 stands, including 58 national stands where visitors could do their holiday season shopping and enjoy food, drink and entertainment from all over the world, whilst supporting charities and helping to alleviate poverty in Europe and developing countries. In addition, a total of 17 stands organised tombolas with prizes including flight tickets.

The aim of the Bazaar is to help fight poverty throughout the world. Most of the beneficiaries are organisations based in Asia, Africa and Latin America; however, European and Luxembourgish charities will benefit too. Priority is given to empowering children and women through education, safety and medical care. Charities are selected based on the impact they have on their communities, amongst other objectives.

This year, the Bazaar Committee has selected 74 charities that will receive support. Of those, the Dutch organization "Free a Girl" in Nepal has been chosen as the main project. The objectives of this organisation is to prevent the sexual exploitation of underage girls, to protect them from this scourge, to bring to justice those responsible for the human trafficking, to treat and rehabilitate victims, and to raise awareness and involve families and the public in the fight against sexual exploitation of minors and human trafficking.

The financial support of the International Bazaar will be assigned to: Free Victims (repatriation of raped girls); Punishment (legal and judicial assistance); Rehabilitation and Care (education of 150 children and housing in safety shelters) Prevention (awareness campaigns).

Last year, the International Bazaar raised €600,000 for charity disbursement.

For photos from this year's International Bazaar, see our photo album on Facebook - see https://www.facebook.com/pg/Chroniclelu/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2411423395635618 (all photos by Ali Sahib).