EVS in Aukštaitija National Park: Gražutė Regional Park : A european-made Youth Path

Sabrina, painting the swing

Let's appreciate the movie of nature!

32 young people, 4 nationalities, 10 days of hard work, and a project that took shape, the shape of a Youth Path. All this happened in the village of Salakas, heart of Gražutė Regional Park, located about 60km north of Palūšė.

The two EVS volunteers of the Park, Sabrina from Germany and Rocio from Spain, organised this event, contacting 32 youngsters from Germany, Spain, Italy and Lithuania (eight of each), who became themselves short-term volunteers for this great achievement.

Some pretty hard work

The idea was born when seeing plenty of local young people spoiling a beautiful area near the largest lake of Gražūtė, ten minutes walk from Salakas itself, by coming and drinking there, sometimes with not much respect for the environment.

There was a need for them to get a place that they would really like and respect, so Sabrina and Rocio thought. They put their ideas into action and built different wooden structures, forming like a path, a way to follow. These constructions are useful, artistic, informative, or even philosophical. The nature cinema, for instance, is a wooden frame without a screen, facing the lake, with big wooden mushrooms to sit on and watch. The movie is definitely a slow-motion one, with, as main actors, some birds flying in a distance, or a unhurried fisherman on his boat. The idea is, in our speed-based society, to take more time to appreciate the beauty of nature and what surrounds us.

Altogether to create a better place...

... with love for well-made work

The Youth Path is here to provide informations about the main issues that local youngsters might find on their way, like alcoholism and unemployment. And by clearly showing that it was all handmade, and on a voluntary basis, by youngsters from different countries including Lithuania, with for most of them no experience whatsoever in this kind of projects, it delivers a strong message of optimism to the local community.

One day off to discover the neighbourhood : Aukštaitija National Park!

Cooking for 32 people is something not so easy to manage. And yet, the four countries took turn to propose a great variety of dishes. And italian food was definitely the most appreciated one.