Activity
Helping the elderly is the largest part of Maltesers’ activities. We take care of 2320 elderly people in 44 locations in Lithuania and provide them with all kinds of regular assistance: hot food in thermoses 2 times a week for the weakest ones, and 1 time a week for the stronger ones; we visit, take care of and help them with household chores (cleaning the house, buying medicines, escorting them to the medical institutions etc.). To keep seniors away from loneliness, we keep them occupied and involved in activities – there are 6 senior day centres and 3 senior clubs, as well as senior volunteering programmes. For those who are no longer able to live independently in their own homes, we have established a Maltesers’ social care home in Viekšnaliai, Telšiai district. Thus, the spectrum of services for the elderly is wide – from involvement in activities, to visits with food in times of poverty, to care for those who are no longer able to support themselves.
There are 13 Maltesers children day care centres in Lithuania, which are visited daily by 350 children from families in financial and social difficulties. Together with the Jonas Valančiūnas Foundation, the ‘Stories’ day-care home for teenagers in Kaunas offers help and employment to teenagers, while an open space for young people is located in Vyžuonos, Utena district. Maltesers also provide an escort service for young people from orphanages and families in difficulty – in Marijampolė, Kaunas and Telšiai.
In our work with people with disabled people, we focus on pastoral and community education. Every summer we organise a camp for people with disabilities in Monciškės (Let’s turn disability into power), as well as an international summer camp for young people with disabilities (Malta Camp), and pilgrimages for people with disabilities to Lourdes in France, and the feasts of Šiluva. Kaunas hosts social rehabilitation for people with disabilities throughout the year, has a team of boccia – one of the Paralympic sports – which participates and wins in national competitions.
The nature of the assistance and integration of refugees is to provide information, support measures and integration into national life. Currently there are 11 Malteser points of assistance for Ukrainian war refugees across Lithuania; a hotline call and humanitarian centre in Vilnius; integration assistance is provided not only for Ukrainians but also for migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Belarus.
