The „blossoms“ of my volunteering
I am Birutė Jokubauskienė. I am 67 years old. I live in Gargždai town, Klaipėda region, Lithuania. I have always been a high achiever in my life because I like sitting on the couch doing nothing. Now that I am retired, I have lots of free time; for this reason, engaging in different kinds of activities, including volunteerism, is just for me. After all, volunteering is a way to meet new people and create new relationships making it even more exciting. I had never participated in any volunteer training programs, nor was I planning to, until I discovered the Senior Award Program. I learned about it during one of the seminars I attended at Klaipeda region U3A and decided to attempt.
To begin with, I decided to focus on exercising the existing and learning new skills. I learned to make jewelry out of leather, denim, and other fabrics. These included making various brooches, decorating bottles, making key chains, bracelets, necklaces, and many more. I love making presents and giving away my jewelry and various souvenirs to friends, event guests, and sponsors. This activity is my favorite because my hands and brain work together, and my patience develops.
The most challenging part of the program for me was the requirement to describe the activities undertaken, count the hours spent on the activities, and reflect on my experience. I am an honest and diligent person, which is why I did my best to document everything properly. This activity taught me patience and persistence to finish the job here and now.
Participating in the program taught me to set goals to move forward. Moreover, it encouraged me to use my free time purposefully to please myself and others. And I’m proud of that.
I plan to continue participating in the program, looking for new activities.
