Empathy and Resilience: Alexandra’s Volunteering Experience in Lithuania

Alexandra is currently halfway through her volunteering journey in Vilnius.
She moved to Lithuania almost six months ago and is now fully involved in the activities of the host organization.

Her project involves organizing activities and initiatives dedicated to migrants. She tells us about the importance of language skills, how she faces different challenging situations every day, and how, despite everything, many of the people she works with still manage to see the bright side in whatever happens to them.

Read more below:

“The project is proving to be very enriching, especially from a human perspective, though I won’t hide how emotionally challenging or heavy it can be at times.
My tasks are divided between the office in Vilnius—specifically the Foreigners Integration Center—and the asylum seekers and refugee camp in Pabradė, near Vilnius. In Vilnius, I mainly help with bureaucracy, promote events on social media, and organize weekly English lessons for refugees in the form of conversation clubs. Bit by bit, I will also start organizing community events and supporting project writing.

In Pabradė, on the other hand, the work is much more hands-on and in close contact with people: it involves providing humanitarian assistance to new arrivals, distributing clothes, or organizing activities for people in the camp—like playing board games, cooking together, or simply spending time with them and talking about how they’re feeling. The goal is to be a friendly presence, to just spend time with these people who are in desperate need of humanity, of being treated like human beings, and to find support while facing a very difficult and often incomprehensible situation.

It’s incredibly helpful that I speak both Russian and French—not only because (along with English) this allows me to communicate with most of the asylum seekers, who come from many parts of the world including Central Asia, the Middle East, various African countries, as well as Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine—but also because I often serve as a bridge, acting as an interpreter between social workers and the migrants, or even between migrants themselves, helping them form bonds and a sense of community within the camp.

This is the part of my volunteering that brings me the most satisfaction, as it makes me feel truly useful—supporting people who are marginalized by society, even just by showing them a human and friendly face. I see this as an incredibly valuable experience for me as a person, as it constantly reminds me how little it takes to bring relief to people in need, and how important it is to simply be present for them and listen to their stories and experiences, which are so often tragic. In simple sharing, there is often a chance to find a bit of inner peace.

Something else that never ceases to amaze me—especially in the Pabradė camp—is how much joy and positivity these migrants manage to radiate and share every day, despite finding themselves in such a difficult situation (essentially locked in a camp that feels like a prison, waiting for their asylum applications to be approved).

And yet, they often face the worst with a smile, asking you how you are, joking and laughing over a game of cards.

I’m not saying everything is positive, or that there are no truly difficult moments—especially when someone risks deportation or tells you they haven’t seen their family in years. But there is often a way of approaching life that is very different from ours—more genuine, so to speak—which finds a reason to smile in the little things, and great joy in sharing.”