By Vidmante Dubickaite
Have you ever imagined that your idea would be demonstrated to the whole world? Eleven people from a volunteering project in Lithuania did not expect that caring for disabled people would see them taking a step on a red carpet at the European Youth Week Awards.
This European Voluntary Service project from Lithuania was one of the country’s biggest projects, with 11 volunteers from 10 different nations participating, according to Jurgita Grusaite, a coordinator of EVS projects.
The project differed from others because volunteers were not only involved in everyday work and activities but also in many additional events in the central Lithuanian city of Kaunas.
There were events dedicated to tolerance, anti-discrimination, solidarity, assuring the visibility of the Youth in Action programme.
CURIOSITY WINS
“I checked the project and thought not only about the area, but also about my personal interest in Lithuania,” says Pablo Sanches, who travelled from his native Spain to Kaunas for the project.
Young people take part in a demonstration held on Laisvės street in Kaunas
“I knew very little about this country, but I wanted to check how ex-Soviet countries had evolved since 20 years of independence.
“It was a perfect place to explore and research for a young Western European man like me.”
After having finished a Psychology degree and still without work, Pablo accepted an offer from the Associate Friends of the Apostles of Jesus organisation to go to Lithuania to search for alternative opportunities.
This decision to go to another country became an unforgettable moment in his life. According to Pablo, there were a lot of activities to do – feeding, dressing, helping in hygiene for disabled people.
“I think the most important thing was that what was not written for us to do,” says Pablo of the positive influences from the project.
“I mean, we were supposed to help, so we did that as good as we could. After the first few months, our language skills were better and we were able to talk with almost all of the users of the centre. We got closer to them and their stories became ours, too.”
Opportunity for spending your time with other people – one of the advantages of volunteering
A relationship between volunteers and disabled people was also built outside the centre, says Pablo. Volunteers got to become a real part of the centre and they played basketball, spent time or walked together.
“I think it is very useful for a volunteer to feel being a part of the place where they help,” adds Pablo.
“That fact motivates volunteers so much and then they become really useful.
Despite a few difficulties during the project, a majority of the activities were fulfilled successfully, according to Jurgita.
“Activities by the volunteers were seen everywhere, both in the press and on the internet,” she says.
I WAS, I AM, I WILL BE A VOLUNTEER
The mission for Pablo and other volunteers was to show that volunteering is not an old concept from the military field. They wanted to show that it is something that can change a person and everything that surrounds him/her.
Hand in hand, we are moving towards a better future
“We organised several things drawing the attention of the media and our words were listened to by thousands of people,” says Pablo.
Pablo now plans to help his own community in Spain after his experiences in Lithuania.
“I guess we all want to bring something good to the place where we were born, because we are able to do it,” he adds.
If you are interested in opportunities for taking part in a project in Lithuania, please visit www.deineta.lt
11 May 2016
