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GLOBAL DIARIES Photography and storytelling

Contact: Justina Kaluinaitė, justina@vbplatforma.org www.vbplatforma.org Vystomojo bendradarbiavimo platforma

The publication is part of “Volunteering for Humanity”, funded by the EU Aid Volunteers initiative (DG ECHO, European Commission), and ‘’SDG2030’’, funded by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programm. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Lithuanian NGDO Platform and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. NOTE In order to ensure children’s right to privacy, parents’ or carers’ permission has been received to publish pictures of children below the age of 12. Credits are provided for every photo, with permission from sending / host organisation where applicable.

INTRODUCTION Civic space contains knowledge, experiences, ideas, and willingness to share and cooperate with others. It is exactly this space that invites people to travel abroad to volunteer or participate in traineeship and exchange programmes, and to engage in various activities on their own initiative. In this publication, people who have embarked on such journeys share their experiences, partnerships, aims, lessons, and achievements with you. Crucially, it is happening without discrimination based on age: civic activities are not ruled by age restrictions neither in Lithuania, nor elsewhere in the world. There are active and intelligent people everywhere. People from Lithuania who participate in various activities in places designated as regions for development cooperation are examples of our civil society. The same applies to people from those regions who volunteer or train in Lithuania, or who are permanent residents and dedicate their time and energy to a diversity of activities and in such a way contribute to sharing ideas, knowledge, and experiences. Creating a better, more positive Lithuania and her future is what motivates them. Foreigners who have chosen Lithuania as their home, while enriching us with their input, at the same time also enrich themselves. Just like us, when we go train or volunteer beyond Lithuania’s borders. Page after page you will notice how different the stories our volunteers and trainees tell about the same geographical location or sometimes even about the same hosting organisation are. It is obvious that these experiences, views expressed, and things an individual has chosen to highlight are personal reflections only; they are not the single absolute truth about a certain area. Just like it is impossible to fully describe

what and how Lithuania is in two or three paragraphs, it is not possible to do it for Ghana or Nepal. What we take from volunteering or training abroad only reflects a part of existing realities, certainly not all of them. Therefore it’s not even worth trying to apply one single aspect of what we’ve witnessed to the whole country. A much better option is to open up, with curiosity, to the beauty of the world’s diversity. Let us not forget that every place is made up of numerous diverse things, never just one. Moreover, often our personal reflections on a place we are visiting depend on how we are and what we feel at that particular time: whether we are curious or bored, whether we laugh or cry, whether there is a storm approaching the horizon or perhaps a full moon. Such diversity of stories told invites us to think about how we understand things, what criteria and influences we use to filtrate information and how we present it to others – what we mention and what we keep silent about, and why. Diversity encourages us to think wider and deeper. Every story in this publication is like a piece in a giant puzzle. On our part, we are very happy that experts and volunteers from Lithuania and abroad whom you will meet here share not only their personal reflections, but also insights based on their research and professional work assignments. A big thank you to everyone involved. We wish you maintain your energies and ideas, and remain determined to implementing them. Justina Kaluinaitė Lithuanian NGDO Platform

CONTENT

6. 10. 14. 18. 20. 24. 28. 32. 36. 40. 44. 48. 52. 56. 60.

Robin / Lithuania Beata / Egypt Greta / Indonesia Madara / Ghana Monika / Vietnam Rita / Uganda Inga / Lithuania Giedrė / Rwanda Gintė / Ghana Goda / Iraqi Kurdistan Edvardas / Lithuania Gabrielė / Palestine Indrė / Tanzania Asta / Uganda Justina / Serbia

64. 66. 70. 76. 78. 82. 86. 92. 96. 102. 106. 110. 114. 118. 124.

Diana / Lithuania Samuel / Vietnam Šarūnas / Nepal Stasys / Uganda Albina / Lithuania Justina / Colombia Stasys / Armenia Beata / Gambia Ugnė / Nepal Stasys / Lithuania Justina / Indonesia Sebulime / Lithuania Paulius / Nepal Monika / India Ugnė / Kenya

128. 132. 136. 142. 146. 148. 152. 156. 158. 162. 164. 168. 172.

Bless / Lithuania Medeina / Ghana Monika / Nepal Rimvydas / Kenya Aidas / Tanzania Madara / Kenya Julius / Lithuania Justina / Ghana Paulius / Uganda Ernesta / Thailand Laurynas / Mexico Inga / Ghana Ernesta / Nepal

LITHUANIA Robin While studying at LCC International University in Klaipėda, Lithuania, over the summer of 2020 I volunteered at the Dienvidis Day Care Centre. Four days a week I would spend time interacting with children aged 4–16. These are children considered to be at social risk due to the trauma they had experienced at home by alcoholic or abusive parents, or they had already been involved with law enforcement. They desperately need positive role models in their lives. Sometimes they just need someone who could talk to them, inspire them to correct their ways and turn their life around and attend college. They loved having a college student come by and play games, read, or just talk to them. I think this really increased their selfesteem and showed them that they could change their lives now, at a young age, and begin to make smarter decisions. Every time I showed up to volunteer, I could usually tell who the young people were that needed me the most that day. Sometimes you could just detect it by the way they looked at you. I would often grab a basketball, put my arm around that person and ask if they wanted to shoot some hoops. That always put a smile on their faces. After engaging in an activity for a while, if they needed to talk, we would sit down and talk. One of the challenges I would face is that sometimes I could not get around to all the young people who I felt needed me that day. Even though I was there all day from 8 am to 5 pm, I felt that I needed to stay longer. So many children long for attention and love. I had not realised the hard life that many young people have.

Alcoholism is a problem not just for the alcoholic person themself, but for the whole family as well, including their children. I also realized that we do not have enough volunteers for such organisations and so I have encouraged my fellow students at LCC International University to volunteer. There is such a great need today. I think the highlight for the children was when I brought a member of the LCC Moose Men’s Basketball team for them to shoot hoops with. Basketball is a huge sport in Lithuania and they couldn’t believe they were playing basketball with a real player on a team. They were so excited! Every day they looked forward to me coming and I know my time there made a real difference in their lives. Volunteering with this organisation also benefited me. It showed me that compassion, empathy, and love was what these young people needed. They needed to feel valued and encouraged about life. I also became aware of the great number of children who need strong role models in their lives. I learned that I could really encourage these children and help improve their lives. As someone from Pakistan, I found out that different places in the world have different problems. But whatever part of the world we are in, we should always look for ways to volunteer and be of assistance in that community. As a volunteer, I learned more about the Lithuanian culture and how to communicate effectively with people there. Dienvidis Day Care Centre is providing a great need in Klaipėda and can always use positive role models as volunteers.

Robin Mubarik from Pakistan, volunteer with Dienvidis Day Care Centre & Redcross Infocentras Klaipėda. May 2020.

EGYPT Beata Egypt is one of the fastest-growing start-up ecosystems in the MENA region. For the last five years Egypt has been pampered – deservedly, it must be added – with international funds for start-ups, incubators, accelerators, governmental initiatives, and investments from all over the world. Currently, 20 new cities are being built in Egypt, including the new capital that is costing billions of dollars – a new city designed exclusively for government institutions, to which the whole administrative state apparatus will be transferred. It is said that this extremely controversial construction project will reach the size of Singapore. A quarter of Egypt’s population lives below the poverty line, but Egyptians themselves insist that in their country, nobody will go hungry: everyone who lives in Egypt, is visiting it or just wandering through it will be welcomed, fed, and loved. As for me, after almost a year in Egypt, I invite you to get rid of those stereotypes about camels and harems and discover the real Cairo – a city that never sleeps, is loved by IT start-ups and is being kissed by the sun for 10 months a year.

Beata Rajeckaitė, trainee at Egitrade with AIESEC, 2020.

INDONESIA Greta I’ve been fascinated by monkeys and orangutans since I was a child. In 2017, after coming across a call for volunteering with Orangutan Foundation International and with the encouragement of a friend, I decided to apply. That summer I left for Borneo Island, Indonesia. Together with other volunteers, for three weeks we lived in a rainforest where we contributed to the preservation of a natural reserve and had to find a way to help a crocodile become self-sufficient and learn to catch its own food, without the help of humans to whom he had been accustomed. We also visited the famous Camp Leakey, founded by the great scientist of Lithuanian origins Birute Galdikas, as well as an orangutan care centre where we had the amazing opportunity to play with baby orangutans (for their protection, it is forbidden to share their photos publicly). I returned from this volunteering experience with more awareness and consciousness. By consuming products that contain palm oil, we directly contribute to the orangutans’ extinction, because entire rainforests – home to these beautiful creatures – are being destroyed to make way for oil palm plantations. For example, in 1973 there were almost 300 000 orangutans living in the wild; if the deforestation of their primary habitats – Borneo and Sumatra – continues, it is estimated that by 2025 there will be only 47 000 orangutans left. Some interesting facts about orangutans: these animals are very jealous – they don’t like sharing attention, so when communicating with them it is advisable not to turn your eyes away from them or talk with anyone else. Adult orangutans have seven times more physical strength than an average human – if you meet an orangutan better don’t make her or him angry.

Greta Tautavičiūtė, volunteer with Orangutan Foundation International, 2017.

GHANA Madara Living in the school area together with the children, I helped them to get ready, did various kinds of household chores, and taught music classes which normally are not part of Ghana’s official education system. During those lessons we sang and made our own instruments, and also learned some music theory. After classes the children and I used to go to the nearby church where we learned to play the piano and in the evenings, we did their homework together. But at some point I started questioning the input of young, straight-out-of-high-school volunteers in such projects, including mine. International volunteering should be about qualified voluntary work, however, my volunteering project is more like a fashionable Gap Year programme where young people with no experience or skills take a break from their studies or work and travel to the Global South to volunteer – and in some cases even pay for it. After returning home I started learning more about the other side of volunteering, the so-called voluntourism, when youth from financially richer countries have the privilege not only to “save the world” but also to travel, discover the differences between “us” and “them” – in other words, simply benefit personally. In the picture you can see children living with other volunteers at NABI children’s home; some are orphans, others have been abandoned by their parents and so volunteers from abroad temporarily act as parents for these children. But foreigners leave after a few weeks or months and I saw how much this traumatizes the children who get attached to them and later suffer. I myself was young and unqualified back then, I knew nothing about social work or Ghana’s culture, which also contributed to a rather big cultural shock upon arrival. This experience destroyed the stereotypes about Africa that I used to have. I began to look at “helping” the Global South more critically and realised that after all, my volunteering in Ghana helped and changed – but it changed me, not the local community, and it contributed to my own personal transformation.

Madara Žgutė, EVS volunteer with Nation Builders International Orphanage Home & School, sending organization former „Youth Exchange Agency“ (liet. „Jaunimo mainų agentūra“), 2012–2013.

VIETNAM Monika I stayed in Nam Khe village in northern Vietnam, 135 kilometres from the capital Hanoi. Here and at the nearby University of Ha Long I volunteered as an English teacher. At university, students develop their skills in four key areas – speaking, listening, reading, and writing. My main job was to encourage students to speak. Although English grammar is taught in Vietnam since primary school, speaking is often difficult due to lack of practice. I lived near Ha Long Bay which is a huge touristic spot, and where tourist guides who can communicate with tourists in English are in high demand. Wedding: My colleague Alicia and I were invited to the wedding ceremony of a fellow university teacher with whom we had become friends. The celebration took place in the bride’s home. For this occasion we, like most other women, dressed in traditional Vietnamese costumes Ao Dai. School party: The main hall at Ha Long University and one of the common celebration parties where not only students dance, but teachers also sometimes perform. Woman on mountain top: There are 54 diverse ethnic groups in Vietnam. In the mountains I met a Hmong woman named Mao Thi Tan and got to know her family. She lives in an adobe hut. Even though she doesn’t speak Vietnamese but the language that Hmong people use and is illiterate, she learned English from tourists and created her own enterprise: she guides visitors through the mountains and invites them to stay at her house and learn more about her culture. Such enterprises help women to financially support their families. Unfortunately, luxury hotels get the lion’s share of incoming tourists, which makes it difficult for local people to find visitors to host.

Monika Zavistanavičiūtė, EVS volunteer with SJ Vietnam, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017–2018 m.

UGANDA Rita While volunteering in a community in Uganda I noticed a huge lack of information related to domestic violence and its prevention, on where to seek help when needed and what help exactly can victims of domestic violence expect to receive. The leader of one of the organisations that provide assistance to victims of domestic violence promised to gather all the data about all such organisations in the area and share it with the women of the community. However, my main job as a volunteer was working with youth and the local community, helping them to implement the changes they want, get rid of stereotypes and preconceived notions. The team at my host organisation are guided by their strong conviction that personal development and education can help eradicate poverty.

Rita Grigalienė, participant of the Experts – Volunteers programme at Uganda Youth Skills Training Organization – UYSTO, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2018.

LITHUANIA Inga Radiation security: National training for radiation security, aimed at testing the liaison between special services and local municipality institutions in case of an explosion of the Astrav nuclear powerplant in Belarus. Lithuanian Red Cross volunteers assisted in providing first aid and psychological help, also in registering the supposedly evacuated population at reception centres in Kalvarija, Zarasai, and Varėna municipalities. Training: Red Cross volunteers leave Vilnius on an early morning and, having been deployed in a school in Kalvarija, discuss how they would welcome, register, and provide aid to people arriving from other regions.

Inga Bikauskienė, Lithuanian Red Cross, 2019

RWANDA Giedrė Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is a very green, very clean, and very quiet city. Green for its warm climate; clean for its wide campaign against waste and huge fines for littering; and quiet, for its past and, partly, for its present. Tiny hilly Rwanda’s future in governmental plans is marked as IT. “If you have an idea that will benefit both you and the country, you are welcome here,” says Dani, a young man who works at FabLab, a start-up space for hardware project development. Our conversation took place in Rwanda’s first IT centre, based in Kigali. The youth here are highly motivated, energetic, and see their future in the IT sector. But the majority of Rwandese – some 80 per cent – are small-scale farmers. Many live in financial poverty. Some receive help from a governmental programme titled Girinka (which translates as “May you have a cow”), under which a family is being given a cow; cattle means better nutrition for the children, higher social status for the parents, and free organic fertilizer for the agricultural lot. More such government-sponsored programmes exist, under the banner “home-grown solutions”, i.e. Rwanda-specific measures which, it is claimed, stem from its traditional culture. This is local alternative to development policies dictated by foreign donors or big international organisations and institutions, which do not necessarily attend to native people’s needs. Another example: from 8 to 11 am every last Saturday of the month, people in Rwanda do community work. This practice, called Umuganda (“coming together in common purpose”), is rooted in the concept of mutual assistance; all Rwandan citizens aged 18-65 are obliged to participate; according to official statistics, overall participation reaches 91.3 per cent of all eligible citizens – perhaps partly because there are strict punishments for those who don’t show up. What exactly needs to be done is decided by community leaders depending on the community’s needs, for example planting trees, building and road maintenance, cleaning up, building schools, helping the most vulnerable, etc. In the last few decades Rwanda has achieved longer average lifespan, reduced illiteracy and lifted many people out of extreme poverty. The largest progress has taken place in education and healthcare: public education in Rwanda is free and financially wealthier citizens cover healthcare costs for poorer ones through their taxes. But progress has its price, too. Using dictatorial methods, the country’s president Paul Kagame buys peace and relative quietness with threats, brutal disposal of political opponents, and forced silence regarding his military interventions into diamond, gold, and mineral-rich neighbouring Congo (DCR).

Giedrė Steikūnaitė, independent journalist, project „Media4Development“ participant, coordinating organisation „Europe House“, 2017 m.

34Justina Kaluinaitė @

GHANA Gintė I was responsible for the host organisation’s communications: I developed their new website, systematized the Facebook page and Instagram, updated the blog, and created videos for their YouTube channel. I also led a workshop for employees about team work, communications, and creativity. Together with colleagues we organised sexual education lessons for girls. Activities with children took place on Fridays because that is when they have more free time after school. We planted beans, collected garbage, played various games, learned origami, and visited the Botanical garden. The main lesson I learned is to find ways to be useful. As opposed to doing whatever comes to your mind, when you are abroad you should first thoroughly examine the situation and find out what is most needed. I learned to be flexible and not to impose my personal opinions on anyone. It is very easy to shout out ideas without knowing the realities of the place and their customs – but such ideas never come to fruit. Undoubtedly, the biggest changes a volunteering experience can bring is to the volunteer themself: during this time the volunteer’s mentality is changing rapidly. Later on, by way of the domino effect, the mentality of their circle of people also changes. I returned having understood how little I know about the world. I now carefully choose my words and notice how many stereotypes of all kinds we have in our minds. And I get very sad when I see yet another article in the Lithuanian media about “that undiscovered country Africa” because it only demonstrates our ignorance.

Gintė Marija Ivanauskienė, trainee with GLEN programme at Urban Poor Child Organization – UPCO, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017.

IRAQI KURDISTAN Goda

My land refuses me in the womb. Strokes still crushing my head, ready already to bury me alive, day after day, you are destroying me. No. Forever, No. After all these deaths, I remain. Kajal Ahmad (b. 1967)

For a month in summer 2019 I was an intern with People’s Development Organization dedicated to women’s rights in the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. Gender equality is still a desired aspiration the world over, however, the struggle is especially difficult in a land devastated by military conflicts for most of the 20th and the 21st centuries. The 1986-1989 Anfal genocide was mentioned in one way or another during almost every conversation that I had with a Kurdish person there; the consequences of the 2014 Yazidi genocide committed by ISIS, as well as the fight against this group, is evident by the tens of refugee camps scattered across the region, in which more than one million refugees and IDPs are still living. “You do know that Yazidis are Kurds, right?”, says my Kurdish interpreter, when during an interview with Vian Mayee, the artistic director of all-female music band Zhilkazee, I ask her whether the girls sing Yazidi or Kurdish songs. I double-check this with a Yazidi poet of the new generation, Zêdan Xelefe. He says that this may have been true until 2014, but Yazidis stopped being Kurds the moment that the latter abandoned them just as ISIS fighters were approaching. In such context of repeated national traumas, the fight for women’s rights may seem hopeless, but the achievements of the last several decades are impressive: “honour killings” were criminalised; the state took commitments in the fight against domestic violence; polygamy has been legally limited; huge achievements in exterminating the practice of female genital mutilation; progress in women’s representation in government institutions (due to the quota system which requires 30 per cent of female members in the regional parliament). And although each of these achievements has its own “but”, the female journalists, scientists, LGBT activists, lawyers, poets, psychologists, social workers, and survivors of war and sexual violence whom I met through PDO activities are not giving up. They remain, they are planning their further steps and in this way, they are pushing the whole region forward.

Goda Jurevičiūtė, participant of the Experts – Volunteers programme at People’s Development Organization, sending organization Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2019.

LITHUANIA Edvard I was volunteering at the SOS children’s village Day Centre in Vilnius, a place for children from families with social risks. After school they would spend the afternoon in the centre. I was helping them with their homework and organised cooking lessons and handcrafting masterclasses. With my co-workers we also organised various events, excursions, camps, and competitions. Apart from that, I also attended events in Vilnius, for example language exchange gatherings. When I started my volunteering, the children there seemed bored and not interested in any activity. I suggested to my co-workers to organise handcrafting masterclasses and cooking lessons. Then we started making lunch together. And when I finished volunteering, I felt that they had become a team, ready to help each other. From the very beginning, I felt like I was at home In Lithuania. But of course there were some challenges. The biggest was that I didn’t have social work education and experience in that sphere. I’m an economist. So in the first month it was hard for me to make contact with the children. But with the help of my colleagues I finally did it. And I also gained managing skills – managing finances, time, activities, trips and other such things.

Edvard Ghazaryan from Armenia, volunteer with the Day Centre at SOS Children’s village in Vilnius. Sending organisation HUJ – Voluntary Service of Armenia. Coordinating organisation ESTA Saltes, 2016-2017.

PALESTINE Gabrielė Challenges faced by young people living in the West Bank of Palestine are completely different to those that youth in Lithuania or elsewhere in the West deal with. First of all, they live in a territory that, as confirmed in numerous UN resolutions, has been militarily occupied since 1967. All Palestinians who live in these occupied territories, including the young ones, are forced to constantly encounter, in the streets and at military checkpoints, highly armed Israeli soldiers who not only restrict their freedom of movement, but also create this persecuting sense of not having a single place to feel free, open, and belonging. Psychological and mental problems occurring from the need to resist the occupation, both peacefully and non-peacefully, generation after generation, are among the most horrible consequences of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine. Every year, 500-700 Palestinian children are detained and “tried” in Israeli military courts. There are even cases of children much younger than 12 being detained, interrogated and tortured, or put under house arrest without any due legal process. Such treatment of minors would not be tolerated in our society, however for Palestinian children this is bitter reality. Our project that took place in Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem merged videography as a method for self-help with a primer on psychological self-knowledge and dealing with one’s emotions. Highly experienced experts in their fields who joined our team – from Lithuania’s best-regarded children’s psychiatrist to a specialist in non-formal education and a documentary film director – organised workshops for teenagers of Aida refugee camp, pedagogues, and young filmmakers. The basis for our work was equality-based relationship with the youth, using non-formal education methods. Our documentary film Children of the Wall is available on YouTube.

Gabrielė Tervidytė, coordinator, development cooperation project “Psychosocial therapy through personal documentary”, 2015

TANZANIA Indrė Opportunities were created for youth workers to improve their competencies and gain new experiences, aiming to empower youth to engage actively in civic activities that would contribute to the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals in their local communities. In these photos you can see moments from traineeships of Tanzanian and Ugandan youth workers in Lithuania and also from training sessions for youth workers from Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Spain, Bulgaria, and Lithuania, that took place in Tanzania in 2018. During the first week of the traineeship in Tanzania me and my colleagues Vladislav, Aga, and Solveiga had a lot of activities related to music and dancing. This helped me to get to know the participating youth better and light up the team spirit. Dancing, singing, and chatting informally we felt unity and considered ourselves part of the community. I especially remember the great atmosphere created by the Soul-Xpression team which led the workshop on improvement. Participants were divided into two groups: while the first one was preparing a dance, the second one was learning to tell stories according to the Ugandan folkloric tradition. The youth very much enjoyed the dancing, the songs, the acting, and team work.

Indrė Augutienė, 2017-2019 Global Citizens Academy carried out the project GLOBALAB – goes global, supported by the European Commission. Lithuanian coordinator, trainer during the youth workers training in Tanzania. 2018.

UGANDA Asta It is not easy for young people to find a job, so many start their professional career volunteering. After several meetings with colleagues at my host organisation we decided to start implementing NGO volunteer contracts and legalise the work that volunteers do at the organisation. Having these contracts, volunteers would be able to demonstrate their competencies, skills, and experiences to their future employers. In such a way it will not only expand their CV, which helps when looking for a job, but also encourage volunteering and strengthen the social sphere. I noticed that the biggest dream that young people have here is to study. Education is valued by everyone, including the youngest ones. In Uganda education is not free, so it has become a luxury. In Kampala, Kasubi, and Nansana there are many private schools, less public ones. The latter, by the way, local people consider to be of a lesser quality. I visited some of the closed private schools, where children stay for the whole week, sleep in duplex beds and each has a box for their belongings. Rules are very strict there. After several weeks of volunteering in Uganda I feel my attitude change and my previously held beliefs and convictions fall apart. I watch how facts deny hypotheses. After this experience I have expanded my mindset. I now look more critically at many things, including myself.

Asta Šidlauskienė, specialist in children’s rights protection and participant of the Experts – Volunteers programme with Uganda Youth Skills Training Organization – YUSTO, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017.

SERBIA Justina When I arrived to the town of Preševo on the border with Kosovo and Macedonia for the first time in 2011, it was still a post-conflict region, therefore most of the local NGOs engaged in promoting dialogue between different ethnic groups. At that time the zones where these groups – Serbs, Albanians, and Roma people – lived separate from each other were rather clearly defined. Today, people interact with each other much more and friendships are being formed. My main task was organising informal youth activities at the Community Resource center (CRC) in the town of Bujanovac, together with a wonderful and highly motivated youth team. As an international assistant, my role was to share experiences and ideas in organising activities as well as contributing to administrative and strategical coordination of the centre’s activities. We organised a travelling festival of tolerance, theatrical workshops, excursions, picnics, film screenings, and discussion on various cultural and political topics. As a foreigner, sometimes I had to take the position of a mediator, since the town is small and there were only a few foreigners there; the organisation benefited from my unbiased nationality, for example, when presenting our activities to other organisations and donors. In Serbia I met a lot of actively engaged youth who take real actions to achieve positive changes in their own lives and in the town itself. Later on we often co-organised various events and projects; I returned to Serbia many times to visit my colleagues-turned-friends and it was great to see the adult faces of those young people whom I had met on my first visit there years before. Although many have other jobs and families, they continue working for the well-being of the community. It is a great example of how, with enough motivation and people’s active engagement, even small projects can lead to bigger initiatives that benefit the whole society. When the European crisis started in 2015, tiny Bujanovac had the biggest concentration of refugees in the whole Balkan route. During that time I remotely contributed to the centre’s activities aimed at improving the situation of the refugees; helping out with their project management and reports, I helped the organisation to perform their activities on the ground more effectively. In 2019–2020 I coordinated the creation of Journey: Civic Activism, a documentary film about the refugee crisis (this film can be viewed online https://vimeo.com/469266458). I am happy that even short-term projects turn into long-term, continuous work and partnership when there is synergy and common values and goals. And not only work – friendships, too.

Justina Kaluinaitė, volunteer with CRC Bujanovac in 2011 under the programme Youth Exchange and Cooperation (a huge thanks to Simona). From 2017 onwards volunteering and projects with the same organisation are undertaken as a personal initiative.

LITHUANIA Diana Working with refugees and asylum seekers always requires a lot of patience, thoroughness, and attentiveness. Some things can be learned, others can only be felt. People who have lost their loved ones and their homes, who have arrived to another country and a different culture – an environment that is not necessarily always friendly – can act in various ways and unpredictably. The ability to get closer, to listen and explain what can be done, to agree on a plan how to move forward, is the most important task of an employee or a volunteer of any humanitarian organisation. It helps to avoid conflicts and to calm down. Working with vulnerable people means ensuring their independence and empowerment to orient themselves in a foreign environment. Little things, such as learning how to pay the bills or some basic words of a new language, open doors to independent living. Refugee children smile a lot, they see the world in a different way. But they, too, face difficulties – for example, they need help with their homework and require difficult things to be explained to them. A conversation: Lithuanian Red Cross volunteer Diana Averkaitė-Abbas in conversation with a girl from a refugee family during an occupational event at Red Cross Kaunas.

Gintarė Kazakevičienė, Lithuanian Red Cross, 2019.

VIETNAM Samuelis I volunteered with primary school age and slightly older students using playful and engaging learning methods. Has my volunteering in Vietnam created any noticeable changes? Not all volunteering projects are of high quality and well thought-through. In the school in which I volunteered it was difficult to organise quality activities with the community due to numerous rules and strictly defined work structure which was obligatory to follow. Despite this, I tried to contribute as much and in such ways as were permitted to me. I am sorry that I hadn’t managed to create continuous and better organised activities. To other volunteers and those who are planning to volunteer my advice is: carefully estimate your abilities and skills in the framework of your volunteer project. And, even more importantly, honestly evaluate your own readiness to possible challenges and disappointments.

Samuelis Valentinas Sauchatas, EVS volunteer with SJ Vietnam, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017–2018.

NEPAL Šarūnas Filming provides an opportunity to find yourself in a place where few wander. What I mean is not some exotic places or traditions, which tourists do not lack there, but the simple, daily life of local people. It was a unique opportunity to live, for a month, with a local family as an ordinary Nepalese. To feel a different life rhythm. To simply be there. I guess the most difficult part was the distances. Mountains are very deceptive. Visually it looks like a half an hour’s walk to another village, but no, it takes you half a day, because some places cannot be easily reached even with a motorcycle. Despite the beauty of its nature and cultural heritage, Nepal is a very poor country. It has suffered a lot from the huge 2015 April earthquake, mass government corruption, civil war, and the traditional caste system. People are tired, they want better living conditions. People in Nepal met me with my camera as people everywhere meet foreigners with a camera – with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. The first couple of days I just drank tea and talked or stayed in silence with the future protagonists of my documentary film. Trust came slowly and gradually, together with me getting a deeper understanding of that person’s life.

Šarūnas Mikulskis, participant of the Experts – Volunteers programme with Volunteer Initiative Nepal and director of documentary film Simple Dreams, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017.

UGANDA Stasys While in Uganda for exchanging good practices, we met with many big and small local NGOs in the capital Kampala and the provinces. Regional visit: Kiboga district and meeting with local NGO leaders who are also members of the national association UNNGOF. During this meeting we shared experiences and participated in workshops about working with stakeholders and partners, effective volunteer network management, and the main principles of a successful volunteer system management.

Stasys Vaitonis, participant of a project for exchanging good practices, UNNGOF. Photo by Robert Ninyesiga (UNNGOF), sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2020.

LITHUANIA Albina I would come to the kindergarten and, depending on the activity the children were engaged in, I would jump right in and join them! On different days of the week, I would come at different times – lunchtime, playtime, or clean-up time. My task was to be with the children and assist them, as most of them were very young. I think because I was not a Lithuanian, the other foreign volunteers – they were from France and Spain – found it encouraging to connect with me. We had great conversations and shared our working experiences. Also in this short time, I made friends with some of the kids and since I don‘t speak Lithuanian well, we would have fun playing the “guess-what-Albina-is-trying-to-say” game :) During this time I learned how to effectively use the resources and opportunities available. For instance, the kindergarten is located in a forest and the kids took the whole benefit of that space. Also, I learned to be more intentional with the children: during our playing times I was trying to talk to them and teach them simple English words. I wish that I would know the Lithuanian language a bit better but often I was happy to entertain children with my imperfect language skills ;)

Albina Golik from Ukraine, volunteer with the kindergarten Miško Darželis, 2020.

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THANK YOU: Justina is sending a big thank you to Vita, the former director of Jaunimo mainų agentūra, for the trust she has shown and for all the emotional, psychological, and logistical help throughout the project.

Justina Comedor (canteen in Spanish) is what the community activity centre is called in Colombia, an informal educational space for children, youth, and adults. When free breakfast and lunch is provided, long lines form at the centre; various activities are organised in between these two key moments. I volunteered in one such comedor in Bogotá; at the time I was the only volunteer there, although some time before there had been other volunteers, both foreign and national. Truth to be told, some of the older visitors volunteered there too, while employees were nowhere to be seen. However, such mixing of roles and responsibilities (volunteer / visitor / recipient of social benefit / employee) only contributed to the general chaos at the centre. Not long after I arrived there the centre was closed for reasons of carelessness and lack of administrative transparency. It was really difficult to work there and quite often I had to face ethical dilemmas: what do I, as a volunteer, should do when witnessing wrong-doing; whose responsibility it is to solve problems; should I make negative things public; would that create even more trouble; etc. Problems were obvious from the very beginning, including the false and arrogant separation between “us, employees” and “you, visitors”, and a general lack of respect for people visiting the centre. The only good thing there was the support of older youth and adults and their active engagement in organising activities despite the disrespect they received from the centre’s employees. After the closing of the centre I was faced with two choices: to terminate the programme and go home, or to change the project. A colleague of mine had contacts with another organisation, Escuela Movil Acj, Bogotá, that works with youth living in problematic neighbourhoods. There I met Oscar, a social worker with 15 years of experience of working with the so-called youth “gangs”, aiming to improve their social skills. Oscar himself visits various neighbourhoods and what he does first of all is try to make a connection with local communities. Poverty, violence, drug abuse, forced prostitution are major problems there. For street youth, music is of huge importance – it is their preferred way to express suppressed feelings and the difficulties of their lived realities – hence, one of Oscar’s methods to engage the youth in his activities is to record their musical performances. Later on we helped organise a street rap festival. At the beginning I wasn’t sure how I could make myself useful, because such work required very strong specific skills. However, after several workshops, when people sensed that I sincerely pay attention to them and it is important to me, our connection was established. I have learned so much from Oscar and until now we keep in contact, just as with the wonderful Colombian family that hosted me and took care of me as if I was their own daughter.

Justina Kaluinaitė, EVS volunteer with ICYE Colombia (coordinating organisation), sending organisation former Youth Exchange Agency (VšĮ „Jaunimo mainų agentūra“) under the project Let’s Move for Social Inclusion. 2012 m.

ARMENIA Stasys The armed conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis that renewed in September 2020 in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh created a humanitarian crisis. More than half of the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh were forced to leave their homes under gunfire. Thousands of refugees are coming to Armenia. They need clothes, food, shelter, and psychosocial assistance. The many local and international humanitarian organisations already present in Armenia are not enough and cannot cope. In the country itself there is a sense of unity in the society and determination to help those most in need. Various civil initiatives and volunteer-based activities are spontaneously sprouting up. One of such inspiring spaces is the Article 3 Club (allusion to Article 3 of the United Nations Charter), a club of public initiatives, civic ideas and the non-governmental sector. Here work never stops, from sending aid to people of Nagorno-Karabakh to advocacy projects. While some volunteers sort out donated clothes by age, sex, and size, others drive around delivering those boxes according to people’s needs. Another space was initiated by the socially responsible company E-World Armenia, which, apart from its direct business activities, also invests in children’s education and fundraising campaigns. The company’s cellar is now filled with donated items, from foldable beds to warm blankets and clothes. Work doesn’t stop even on a sunny Sunday afternoon. When I visited this cellar-warehouse there were several teenagers from Nagorno-Karabakh working there. Refugees themselves, they said they cannot just sit and do nothing under such circumstances.

Stasys Vaitonis, participant with the Experts – Volunteers with Solution HUB Armenia, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2020.

GAMBIA Beata For tourists, Gambia is paradise, while Gambians themselves refer to their country as the Smiling Coast of Africa. Gambia boasts rapid development of the agricultural sector, while more and more enterprises, initiatives, and projects are encouraging young people to contribute to the country’s economic development and well-being. However, unemployment levels remain one of the highest in West Africa and many people are struggling to make ends meet. I had the honour to contribute to the activities of an organisation that fosters youth entrepreneurship and start-ups in rural areas. After watching participants of a start-up accelerator one after another confess that they want to become entrepreneurs not because they seek personal fame, social status or income, but because they aim to create more jobs for Gambia’s youth, I came to realise that those smiles on the coast of Africa express real dignified humanity, one that makes us take care of each other.

Beata Rajeckaitė, trainee with GLEN programme at Global Youth Innovation Network – GYIN Gambia Chapter, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2019.

NEPAL Ugnė Violence against women who are accused of witchcraft is part of Nepal’s realities. We conducted research in Nepal about this particular type of violence together with Manchhe Boksi Hunna, the only NGO in the country that specifically works with the problem of accusations of witchcraft (mostly women) and all its tragic consequences. We also participated in awareness-raising events. A feature-length educational film on this very topic produced by the organisation is being screened in various communities in Nepal. Screenings are scheduled for national and later perhaps also international cinemas. Manchhe Boksi Hunna also engages in various other educational activities, using such methods as theatre and dance, singing and poetry. These original and effective performances subtly, sensibly and respectfully reveal the complex problem of violence against women accused of witchcraft. Our research contributed to the continuity and expansion of the work of local NGOs in this field, as well as to the substantiation of their importance and the development of new initiatives. I am also very happy for the fact that the recommendations of our report were formulated based on the good practices created and developed by local people, as well as their ideas on how best to deal with challenges related to this problem in Nepal.

Ugnė Grigaitė, participant of the Experts – Volunteers programme at Manchhe Boksi Hunna (National Awakening Academy Nepal), sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform. 2018.

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LITHUANIA Stasys For senior citizens: Meeting and workshops for volunteers from Lithuania and Belarus – participants of an international project that aims to empower older people to volunteer by helping lonely and sick elderly people. Volunteers learned how to make plans, define goals and desired outcomes when working with vulnerable people. Nuclear incident exercise: International training exercise for extreme situations in Visaginas, where a training took place on how to act after a local nuclear incident that involves civilian victims. The situation simulated was if a school bus full of children crashed with a truck filled with nuclear cargo. Lithuanian Red Cross volunteers assisted governmental special services by providing first aid, psychological help, and temporary shelter to the “victims”.

Stasys Vaitonis, volunteer with the Lithuanian Red Cross, 2012.

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INDONESIA Justina I arrived at the island of Java with a scholarship from the Indonesian Ministry of Education for studying entrepreneurship and social responsibility. The first six months consisted of academic studies during which I often visited the West Papua information centre which is based at the university. There, I was learning about the tragic history of West Papua and the West Papuan people’s long struggle for freedom. However, due to tight restrictions I was unable to do research on the ground, in the Indonesia-occupied West Papuan territory itself. The practical part of my traineeship took place with Rumah Inspirasi Jogja, an organisation based in Yogyakarta. The founders of this local community, a Javanese family, were also my hosts during my stay there. The organisation is engaged in environmental education, community activities, environmental initiatives, and promotion of ethical tourism; they publish guides for ethical tourism and organise training sessions in which cultural and historical aspects are combined with environmental and social education. During my traineeship I researched topics related to environmental and business social responsibility in addition to how communities empower changes. Every morning, the river next to our house was bubbling with the liquid waste from a nearby sugar factory. Plastic, other waste, and pollution is a huge problem in Java. For this reason,

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Justina Kaluinaitė, trainee at Rumah Inspirasi Jogja, 2014–2015.

RIJ often organised river cleaning activities, waste recycling workshops, and ecological evening gatherings. Some of the buildings in their property are partly constructed from recycled materials. The community is actively engaged in social education. During my traineeship I contributed to the establishment of community library. We also organised several social enterprise fairs, where local entrepreneurs contributed to sustainable environmental management – cleaning up waste, installing rubbish bins, and helping out with reducing the harm made by river floods. In this region, nature is often acting wild: my host family has experienced an earthquake, the eruption of Merapi the volcano, and river floods. When the river flooded, action was taken to protect the people throughout all the night; after the floods the whole community united as a fist to sort out the damage and rebuild. There are still older people living in the so-called Red zone of the Merapi volcano; they refused to be transferred and instead chose to stay in the same place where they had lived all their lives and had their farms. At the base of the volcano, beyond the Red zone, new initiatives are sprouting up, such as coffee-grower collectives and batik centres. The most valuable lesson I received during my time there is the importance of determination, motivation, and continuity. The long-term and highly successful community-building activities implemented by the RIJ are a true inspiration for change. The community itself is a great example of cooperation and mutual assistance despite differences in religion, beliefs, sex, political views or social status.

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LITHUANIA Sebulime The story of our lives is one where we can’t escape the fact that we are authors and architects, directing how that story is being told. This means we are responsible and accountable for the choices we do or do not make over the course of day-to-day life. The health and rhythm of our lives is interdependent with the health and rhythm of our environment, which is comprised of – but not limited to – humans, trees, water bodies, and animals, you name it. When all this is out of balance, human life and existence is out of balance too. So the big question is: what is your role in bringing the balance back on the planet? Globally, we are facing life-threatening challenges as a result of neglecting the law of relativity, misuse of power, lack of human connection, abuse of substances and apathy. This can only serve as an alarm for all of us to wake up and do something; educating individuals to make choices and take actions that positively impact the local community, in order to bring balance to our global community. I will share what caught my attention during my time in Lithuania and ignited a fire within me to take more action upon returning home. I was amazed how knowledgeable my host was about the history of her country from centuries afar. It made me realise that authentic history is a good resource in non-formal education and brings about an understanding of the common things in all human history, no matter what part of the world you are, and this gives us something to build on as we promote solidarity, unity, and global citizenship. Not forgetting identity as a process of our evolution.

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GCA is part of a platform that lobbies for resources, both financial and technical, and the know-how to build the capacity of member organisations. I find this vital in joining forces, skills, and expertise to identify what needs to be done both at local and global levels. With this huge capacity, the impact can be greater than that of a sole organisation. This made me appreciate more the power of teamwork and collaboration. While in Kaunas, I had the privilege to take part in the planning process and implementation of a training. There was a feeling of respect and understanding in the team as I was brought up to speed to what the training was about: brainstorming and sharing ideas on how to get the best out of the time with participants using non-formal education techniques. The 2-day training was fun and very inspirational, as all the participating groups from different schools and organisations were uniquely invested in matters concerning their immediate environments, ranging from responsible consumption and community sanitation to social inclusion and healthy living. After hearing from the first training of the series, I felt there was a tremendous growth, which the organisers should be proud of. As the saying goes, the future belongs to those who prepare well today! What better way to prepare than equipping children and youth with tools to harness and develop their creativity for a better world? A 2-hour drive outside Kaunas landed me in one of the schools where GCA is actively promoting global citizenship education. Through dance, music, painting, community service, and international projects, students’ attention is directed to the diversity in our world and the need to cultivate compassion, understanding, serving others, respect, and tolerance. We may not be able to do everything, but surely we can do something to bring about an impact on this planet. What is yours? Don’t leave it to others, it is your responsibility too. We are here, we all matter. Let’s do something.

Sebulime Elisha Davis from Uganda, job shadower with Global Citizen Academy, Kaunas. May 2018.

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NEPAL Paulius In cooperation with a local NGO and school network, I spent five months volunteering in Nepal’s educational sector: I helped organise programmes and lessons, renew pedagogical guidelines, and strengthen school workers’ skills. It is rather difficult for me to talk about implemented changes, especially when it comes to systemic changes in education which are always slow to come. However, speaking of my volunteering experience, I am convinced that my work has helped local communities to gain more confidence and motivation to look for alternative solutions and new angles in difficult situations. The most important thing to highlight, I believe, is consistency. I truly wish that our work be continued by others. In a situation of deep legal stagnation and lack of care or strategy, consistency and continuity in bringing change to the community is the essential part of any humanitarian activity or partnership.

Paulius Pakutinskas, volunteer with EVS project Happy 2.0 at Volunteer Initiative Nepal, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017–2018 m.

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INDIA Monika Having graduated with a degree in communications, I have worked in this field for several years. But my desire for new challenges, fresh attitudes, and the opportunity to discover and learn new things has led me to a college in India, where I was to try myself out as a lecturer. The project aimed at empowering women through IT. As a volunteer, I taught online marketing and graphic design not only to university students, but also to university employees. As I was living in the campus together with priests and monks, my first lectures were about religion. Independently from the main belief system in a society, there are certain norms, traditions, and wisdom that is passed on from generation to generation; all these form unity and collectivism in all areas of life. This theory turned into real-life confirmation after I saw how tightly families live in India, how close a relationship is among colleagues, and how friendly and supportive of each other the students are. It became even more evident in a crisis, when following strong torrents and consequent floods that had devastated our region people united for a common goal. Together with the university community we joined aid efforts – we helped people to move, delivered food and clean water, dug mud from their houses and assisted with anything else that was needed. In a discussion club organised together with the students we discussed various important topics, played, and spent quality time. However, power separation in India is rather strong and although after a month my communication with the students became more liberal – they started improvising and actively participating in the discussions – until the very end they addressed me with a respectful “Ma’am Monika”. Every day there brought me life lessons and various impressions. Even after my return I still discover new realisations of my experiences in India.

Monika Banelytė, trainee with GLEN programme at Don Bosco College, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2018.

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KENYA Ugnė Kima is a town surrounded by hills and huge stones that can be found everywhere in the Luana district and make a fine impression on first-time visitors. Here, the Kipepeo community empowerment programme founded by three young and active community members Julius, Jethron, and Moses, is being run for more than 10 years. This organisation was born out of the need to meet the challenges that the community is facing. It has various initiatives aimed at youth and women’s empowerment, as well as a primary school. A new space, the Kipepeo centre for activities, is also being built now. This new centre will contribute to the empowerment of the community as it will include a community garden run according to the principles of sustainable agriculture.

Ugnė Kumparskaitė, trainee with GLEN at Kipepeo Community Empowerment Program, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2019 m.

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LITHUANIA Bless My journey started at Julius Nyerere international airport: Dar es-Salaam to Istanbul, then Istanbul to Kaunas. I learnt a lot during the two weeks of my job shadowing activities. For example, how the country is using technology to empower citizens, how they preserve modern buildings which were built during the war, how they use museums to keep the story of Lithuania as well as her famous people (e.g. Antanas Gustaitis, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas) so that future generations would have a lot to tell. I have learnt and seen a lot of things but my story here is more about how education is used to empower people in Lithuania.

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I was so impressed on how pupils and students are involved in different projects (both local and global), which helps them to share their ideas, knowledge, and thoughts regarding global issues. The school that I visited was involving pupils in projects such as Global Education Goes Local. Pupils explained how they have made changes in their society by using their skills and knowledge gained after participating in different seminars and activities. In African countries it is very difficult to find blind people using new technologies such as smartphones, computers, internet banking or other smart solutions, and also to have a chance to be educated like everyone else. I was so impressed by how people with visual impairments use technology for education, navigation, business, payment of bills and communication. I had a chance to meet a blind person and he explained to me how he is using technology for his studies, navigation, paying bills, servicing other people’s computers, etc. Additionally, he is educating other people with visual impairments to use such skills for their benefit.

There are enough public schools and universities which can provide education to all pupils and students in need of education in Lithuania. The city of Kaunas is a great example of this.

Most of the schools and universities are located in quiet places which favour students’ understanding in classes. The infrastructure is supportive of people with physical disabilities to move from one place to another as well as accessing important services such as toilets and parking lots.

When I was in Lithuania I had a chance to visit an elementary school and a university. There I discovered a competent education system that prepares pupils and students for better life after school in terms of employment. This kind of education system helps schools and universities to discover different talents and skills from students by engaging them in extracurricular activities. For example, in the school I visited pupils were having classes on how to craft different things from wood, glass, and metal.

I have found that corporal punishments are not used in schools and universities in Lithuania, which is a good thing since students will not be afraid to go to school because of problems or mistakes they have done. This is very interesting because most of the teachers in African countries give this punishment to students when they perform bad in exams or are causing problems. Although governments are trying to stop this kind of punishment, it is still there conducted by teachers in different schools.

Advancement of technology has changed how education is delivered in Lithuania: schools and universities have projectors, TVs, internet connection, computer labs and other technologies which help students interact better in classes and increase their understanding in the subject taught.

There are a lot of things that I have learnt in Lithuania but for me education, youth workers, and technology were the things that I paid much attention to because I wanted to learn how my fellows in Lithuania are working in those fields to improve lives in their society to make it a better place.

Bless Samwel Siyovelwa from Tanzania, job shadower from TYCEN with Global Citizen Academy, Kaunas. May 2018

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GHANA Medeina In Ghana, I joined the Campaign for Learning Differences – CLED, an organisation based in Kasoa. This area close to Accra is a fast-growing settlement that people coming from other regions in Ghana to work in the capital make their home, a preferred choice thanks to its lower accommodation costs. Locally, Kasoa is known as the “traffic jam zone”, since a journey that would normally last an hour and a half can extend to twice or even three times as much. The issue of fast population growth was present during my traineeship, too, while working with schools and teachers who work with children with special education needs. Public schools are free and, according to the inclusive education policy adopted in 2015, all children should be fully integrated and have their individual needs provided for. However, when in reality there are more than 50 students to a single classroom, governmental recommendations become unimplementable. During my traineeship we polled teachers about the difficulties they face working with children with special needs in such conditions. CLED continues their work, for example they train assistant teachers and are in the process of creating a resource centre for both children and teachers. During the training that I attended before my trip to Ghana, I met colourfully dressed people from Benin. What got my attention was that every ornament in their clothing has a name and a story and, often, a saying or a teaching associated with it. In Accra I realised that this was not a “national costume” worn once a year, but rather a daily-used outfit. Its production process is long: first, one has to buy material in the market; then, bring it to the dressmaker – of course, everyone claims that their dressmaker is the best!; after several measuring sessions the dress is ready. I was surprised to learn that for the last several decades all those “waxy” textiles are being made in China, therefore it is rare to find traditional Ghanaian patterns; instead, markets are filled with common West African patterned textiles. For this reason, local textile designers in Cape Coast established a cooperative together with foreign partners, where they create Ghanaian patterns using traditional techniques. They also organise workshops for tourists in which they demonstrate Ghanaian batik pattern production using traditional Ashanti symbols the Adinkra.

Medeina Usinavičiūtė, trainee with the GLEN programme at Campaign for Learning Differences, sending organization Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2018.

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NEPAL Monika When volunteering in Nepal, I was involved in public health activities for women and children. First of all we did research to find out more about the local women’s health and evaluated their knowledge on health in general. Based on the results we organised educational activities on cervical and breast cancer prevention. In schools we had hygiene lessons for the children, teaching them how to correctly wash their hands even when there are no adequate conditions. We made washbasins using plastic bottles and syringes; this method allowed us to touch upon ecological topics – we encouraged the reuse of materials and saving water, which women and children spend so much energy to bring from the spring. I smile every time I remember this or that funny story from our disease prevention campaigns, or spending time with the children in schools, Nepalese celebrations, dances, and traditions, cooking meals in an adobe hut, negotiating in the market using my clumsy knowledge of Nepalese and all those amazing moments spent together with other volunteers.

Monika Tunkulaitė, EVS volunteer under the Happy 2.0 programme with Volunteer Initiative Nepal, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017–2018 m.

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KENYA Rimvydas If I hadn’t spent some time in Africa before, I am not sure I would have gone along with this adventure. It is very difficult to go filming to a place you know nothing about. But because I had filmed all across West Africa, I had an understanding about what I could expect in Kenya. In Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal I had seen many things which highly impressed me and which I wanted to film, such as people and relationships among them. I expected to find the same in Kenya, so I simulated several situations in order not to fly there completely empty-handed, with no ideas at all, which would be dangerous. The main difference between creating documentaries in Lithuania and abroad for me, as a Lithuanian cinematographer, is the things that attract you from first sight. Those things may end up being totally irrelevant. It is important not to deceive yourself: something that is so very ordinary for local people might look “exotic” to my unaccustomed eye. Things may seem extremely important to me, while in reality they are meaningless. At the same time, many things are equally important universally, be it in Lithuania, Africa, America or elsewhere. Surface can be very deceptive: natural beauty, people with black skin, Indian feathers may deeply impress a newcomer, but all that is just surface. True, authentic things are in the eyes of the people, in their actions and in their words. And this applies to everywhere.

Rimvydas Leipus, director, documentary film Anna from Ebuhando, participant with the Experts – Volunteers programme at Kipepeo Community Empowerment Program, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2019.

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TANZANIA Aidas In October 2018 I participated in GLOBALAB, an Erasmus+ seminar organised in Tanzania. Other participants were from Tanzania, Bulgaria, Uganda, and Spain. During the event we shared our experiences on how to engage young people in solving global challenges. We also discussed citizenship that would correspond to the Sustainable Development Goals. At the end of the week we met with the Council of Tanzanian youth organisations whose representatives introduced us to advocacy work in their country, and we also planned activities that we would implement upon returning home. I was surprised that Dar es-Salaam is in the same time zone as Lithuania. I remember fondly an unexpected conversation on a rock facing the ocean with a would-be medical student. Everyone I met in this city was friendly.

Aidas Gedminas, former General Manager of Young Maltesers at the Order of Malta Relief Organization. Participant in the youth workers training GLOBALAB - goes global in Tanzania. Sending organization Lithuanian NGDO Platform, coordinating organization Global Citizens Academy. 2018.

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KENYA Madara I found this volunteering project myself, without intermediaries – it was a Nairobi-based NGO Smiles Africa Charity. I chose volunteering in a Masai community because I wanted to get to know this extraordinary ethnic group better while living with a local family. Part of my time I spent in a school, helping teachers with their activities and taking care of the children; the rest of my time was spent in a social centre together with children and teenagers as teacher’s assistant. However, I see this experience more as a cultural exchange than volunteering or sharing my skills and knowledge. The time spent with the local family helped me to know them more closely, share different views, develop respect and tolerance for differences. Masai women are the social and economical engine of the community. Women are responsible for childcare, they also take care of the animals and do all house chords, from bringing water and cooking to gathering firewood and constructing houses. Masai women are true entrepreneurs. The mother of the family with which I lived makes traditional jewelry and together with other women she sells it in the market on weekends or sends abroad to sell.

Madara Žgutė, volunteer with Smiles Africa Charity, 2013.

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LITHUANIA Julius My days in Lithuania would start with waking up, having breakfast, then heading to the bus station to take a bus to SMK University in Vilnius. Over there we had a compact schedule that included talks about career counselling and guidance, various speakers talking about cycles of development, integration of ICT in youth empowerment, use of social media as a channel for career development for young persons, and other topics. I participated in a career open day at the university where I got the opportunity to interact with various international students studying there. One day we visited the Trakai castle where I learnt more about the history of Lithuania. In the Užupis district I got the opportunity to understand the beliefs that they have and the small government that is run in that area of Vilnius. Other trips included visiting shopping malls such as the Akropolis. I gave an overview to the students of how life and education is in Africa, specifically Kenya. I also shared different models of career empowerment used in Kenya. I learnt the value of technical skills and how people embrace technical training as a career in Lithuania. Technical training in Lithuania is enhanced and well supported by the government compared to my country Kenya. I learnt that we all got talents and if we identify our talents very early in life, then we have a place to fit in our society to help make a difference. I wish I knew about the weather before coming to Lithuania in the month of October, it was very cold and I did not have warmer clothes for winter. I had to borrow from a friend I met in the training and she helped me a lot with warm jackets throughout my entire stay in Lithuania.

Julius Kuya from Kenya, participant at a study visit project. Hosting organisation SMK University of Applied Social Sciences, Vilnius. Sending organisation Kipepeo Community Empowerment Program. 12 days in October, 2016

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GHANA Justina UPCO (Urban Poor Child Organization) is a primary and secondary school, a community organisation and a centre for informal education, aimed at socially vulnerable children and youth. Its founder Gideon Markin Kweku, who himself grew up in the street, had been dreaming about such a space. After a lot of hard work, with strong determination and unmovable motivation, he established the UPCO school which now hosts 500 students. The school roof is a garden where students grow fruit, vegetables, and herbs. Apart from emotional, social, and humanitarian assistance to families in need, the school also boasts a health centre. Gideon himself, despite being extremely busy, nevertheless used to find time for walks in the nearby Accra beach to share thoughts and experiences. During the programme I focused on partnership and strengthening the administrative capacities of the organisation’s employees. It included strategic planning, programme implementation and continuity, international funding, and EU fund management. Additionally, we used to gather for dialogue and experience-sharing sessions with older youth at Accra community centre and with student unions.

Justina Kaluinaitė, volunteer under employee mobility programme with Urban Poor Child Organization (UPCO), project S4C: Strengthening Sub-Saharan Youth Career Paths, coordinating institution SMK - University of Applied Social Sciences, 2017.

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UGANDA Paulius Society is a constantly changing unit in which we communicate, cooperate, change, and help each other. Having gained experience and skills and having properly evaluated that sense of global unity, I felt the responsibility to share with others the things I have and create. And it doesn’t matter whether the context for sharing is local or global. It took us three months to establish a non-governmental organisation in a school in Wobulenzi, Uganda, where we worked alongside school staff and students. Often, when one witnesses the actual size of the problem or is faced with deep systemic flaws, their willingness to move forward disappears. But it is exactly at this point that one must engage at full capacity those characteristics that are mandatory for volunteers: appropriate motivation, strong determination, and adequate reading of the situation

Paulius Pakutinskas, trainee with GLEN programme at Kikoma Parents School, sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2018.

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THAILAND Ernesta One of the most impressive experiences for me in Thailand was volunteering with the awareness-raising Mindfulness Project in the countryside of Khon Kaen. Here we had the opportunity to learn and contribute to the development of an ecological farm, building houses from natural materials, and making compost. Of special benefit to us were additional activities for volunteers: our mornings started with yoga, meditation, and breakfast in silence. In the evenings we all participated in talking circles, where we shared reflections about the day we had and were introduced to Buddhist teachings. This experience not only provided us with knowledge about a more sustainable lifestyle – growing one’s own food, natural construction methods – but also gave the opportunity to get to know ourselves better and gave the impulse to start living more spiritually.

Ernesta Paulauskienė, volunteer, 2018.

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MEXICO Laurynas Shortly after my arrival, the volunteering project I had come to join had an unexpected turn: at that time, two major earthquakes hit Mexico. The second one cost the lives of almost 200 people, numerous families were left homeless and jobless. It is absolutely true that in the face of a tragedy people help each other, whatever the needs. The whole community became united as a fist. To witness this and to contribute to it was a very strong emotional as well as humane experience. After the earthquakes me and the other volunteers travelled a lot, clearing the roads and helping people to dig out their homes. We also delivered clothes, food, and other necessities. During that month in the town of Cuautla I saw and lived through a lot. In fact, it seems to me that I had arrived here in Mexico only recently and I know that my time here will pass so rapidly that I won’t even notice it.

Laurynas Trakimas, EVS volunteer at Asociacion Mexicana de Voluntariado Internacional (AMVIAC), sending organisation Lithuanian NGDO Platform, 2017–2018.

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GHANA Inga Together with local youth workers, for a week we shared our experiences regarding unemployment, job-hunting, and problem-solving methodologies. Participation in this project widened my understanding about mindsets totally different from my own, which helped me realise the importance of such simple basic things as water, food, living conditions, and cleanliness.

Inga Kulikauskė, project coordinator at SMK - University of Applied Social Sciences, youth workers mobility project S4C: Strengthening Sub-Saharan Youth Career Paths, 2016

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NEPAL Ernesta One of the stops during my travels with my husband throughout Asia was a small village in Eastern Nepal. We lived and volunteered with a local family in their organic farm where they grow various vegetables, cows, goats, pigeons, and rice. Our contribution was helping with routine agricultural work and cooking. On a visit to a local school we shared knowledge and ideas with both teachers and students.

Ernesta Paulauskienė, volunteer, 2018.

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