STORY PREVIEW

2019

Learning from the Elders

Vilnius Waldorf School

Lithuania

MENTOR

Antanas Jonusas

STUDENTS

Aiste,

Gertruda,

Magdalena,

Ema,

Kajus,

Vilte,

Step 1 FEEL

List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.

Pollution, alcohol, bullying, lack of parking spaces, lonely seniors, drugs, discrimination, racism, bribery, corruption, climate change, poor air conditioning at school.

State the problem chosen to work and why.

Lonely seniors. We feel and hear that there are a lot of lonely seniors in Lithuania. A lot of young Lithuanians are leaving country, but seniors are staying here without their families. Some of them live alone, some of them - in senior houses.

Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?

Seniors. Their main concerns are loneliness, lack of money, social indifference and simply not having enough activities to participate in.

Step 2 Imagine

List ALL the different solutions you came up with.

Visiting the elders in their homes, making gifts, preparing presents for them, joining Caritas for volunteering, visiting seniors houses, talking to them, taking interviews, learning from them, teaching what we are learning at school.

Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?

We decided to visit a seniors' house and celebrate the independence of Lithuania together. We felt that our attention and time spent together would cheer the seniors up. We also decided to link our activity with a historic date and help the senior feel important by hearing their stories out.

Step 3DO

Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).

We gathered information about senior's houses in and around Vilnius. We decided to visit a place called "Senjorų socialinės globos namai". We prepared four our activities: singing, weaving, taking interviews. We also backed a homemade pie for the seniors. And then we visited the place and spent a few hour with the elders.

What was the result or impact of your project?

The seniors were very enthusiastic about our visit. They sang along Lithuanian patriotic songs, were weaving together, sharing their life stories.

How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?

What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:

The seniors said that they admire young people visiting them. They were very thankful for our pie, weaving activity. The seniors were very happy to share their stories and experiences, gave us a lot of life advice.

What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?

It was difficult to find a senior's house willing to invite us. But we got help from one of teachers at school, who had experience with elders' houses. Then it was even more difficult to find a suitable time for the visit. We had to rearrange the date a few times. It was challenging to prepare a plan for our visit. We were not sure what kind of activities would be suitable and appreciated by the elders. And in the end we were very shy to make first contact with the elders. But we tried to be openhearted and after a touch beginning the atmosphere became warmer and we really enjoyed each others.

How long did it take to implement your solution?

0-7 Days

Which global goals does your story align with?

Good health and well being

Please explain briefly why do you think so?

We believe that we made the seniors feel better, appreciated, taken care of. They were very happy to share their stories and to feel that thy have valuable experience to share with the youth. If the cooperation between the seniors and the youth would be stronger and more consistent, we believe that the elders in Lithuania would no longer be and feel so lonely.

Step 4 SHARE

How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?

We shared our project orally in students' classes (classes 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11). We also told about our project in the teachers conference. We got a lot of positive comments, teachers encouraged us to sustain our partnership with the seniors' house.

Approximately how many people did you share your story of change with?

More than 100

Briefly share your plan to sustain the impact of your project?

The students' parliament will talk about a possible cooperation with the seniors' house that we visited. We have ideas like regular visits to the elders' house, volunteering activities or some other way to keep in touch with the elders. We also think that we should visit elders who are living alone in the school's neighborhood.

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