Day 1. Arrival and Opening of the Camp

Democracy Values “We Care” Camp has begun! This morning, seven delegations of students and tutors met at the Vilnius bus station, were picked up by our double decker bus along the way, or met us in the parking lot of the beautiful Dvarčėnų Dvaras lakeside camp in the Alytus region of Lithuania. 

Delegations came from five schools in Lithuania, one in Poland, and one from Washington state in the USA. This year’s delegates hold citizenship from five countries: Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and the USA. Before departing for the camp, the delegations from Poland and the USA enjoyed walking the beautiful streets of old town Vilnius, visiting museums and historic sites, having a briefing with Q&A at the US Embassy, and sampling Lithuanian cuisine. 

Delegations were anxious and excited to meet one another. However, many of the tutors knew each other from pre-pandemic camps (2017-19) and were thrilled to meet again to share with delegates their love of civics and the values of democracies. 

After moving luggage into our cabins, we took group photos and then sat down to a tasty buffet lunch where we practiced “no waste,” taking only what we needed for our own nourishment. Next, we drew portraits of each other on envelopes for our camp post office so we can leave messages and treats for our new friends. 

Hi, we are Szkola Podstawowa nr 5 Team from Świdnik, Poland. Zuzia, Iza, Oliwia, Dawid, Daniel and Mikhail, together with Marcin and Beata. Our school is located in the east of Poland and we bring with us a lot of experience of participating in international projects. We’re extremely happy to take part in the Camp. We want to make friends, learn about important values and broaden our minds.

Saulė, Justina, Eglė, Beata, Evija and their tutor Inga Stonienė are the participants of the camp from Šiauliai Didždvaris Gymnasium which celebrates its 125 th anniversary this year. A school where students are taught following the National Curriculum and has an IB Diploma program. Our gymnasium is involved in various national and international programs and projects, hosts volunteers, holds a European Solidarity Corps Quality Label and is proud of its traditions.  We, as team members, have a variety of interests, such as sports, dancing, drawing, playing instruments. As we are really curious and sure that the experience gained during this camp will be priceless, our team is looking forward to meeting new friends from different schools and sharing our ideas, interests, and values. We do hope to improve our English skills , foster our understanding of tolerance, learn about important issues and become more tolerant, understandable, open minded, and successful.

Hello, everyone! We are a group of six students from Jashunay “Aushra” Gymnasium. Our gymnasium is not a big one - there are 200 students studying and 32 teachers working there. It is located in a beautiful place by the river Merkys, which is the coldest and the cleanest river of Lithuania! Our team consists of four girls: Austė, Sofija, Karina and Samanta, two boys Matas and Emiras and our teacher Gerda Maskoliūnienė. We are very active and love participating in different projects, that is why we are really over the moon to have a chance to be a part of this camp J We are looking forward  to meeting you all, together practicing English by participating in various activities and learning more about other countries, cultures, values and environmental issues. So meet us camp, we are on our way!

Our delegation of four American girls, three boys, and two female leaders live south and west of Seattle, Washington near Tacoma. Two of us have older siblings that attended Democracy Camp pre-Covid; they had amazing experiences and made many new friends. Both of our group leaders also participated in the Camp pre-Covid. We enjoy sports, travel, history, and learning more about international relations. We’re very excited to represent the USA, get to know all of you, learn about your countries and cultures, and have fun together! 

Greetings to all participants of the Values Education Camp “We Care!“ 2023 in Dvarčėnai Lithuania! Sirmantė, Marta, Akvilė, Margarita,Tomas, Miroslav and teacher Rasa Midverienė from Turgeliai Aistuvos Gymnasium are happy to meet all tutors and new friends at the camp. Our Gymnasium is in the Jezavitiškės Village, Šalčininkai reg., 30 km from Vilnius. It is a small and cozy school of 199 students and 26 teachers. We are very happy to be here, improve our English, learn about values, have fun and get ready to spread the accumulated experience in our community.

Greetings from the international team of Lentvaris "Versmės" Gymnasium. We are Anna, Anton, Juliana, Lilia, Mikhail and Vladyslav as well as our English teacher Neringa Šakinienė. We are happy to represent the Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Lithuanian communities of Lentvaris town. We are all looking forward to meeting new friends, learning about and sharing our values with other participants of the camp. Let's together make this world a better place to live for everyone!

Greetings to all participants of the Values Education Camp “We Care” 2023! We are Adriana, Augustė, Eglė, Ema, Vytautė, Dovydas and our tutor Dalia Krasauskienė from Rumšiškės Antanas Baranauskas Gymnasium.  We are very excited to meet peers from Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland and the US. By participating in various activities we hope we will learn more about values, form our own ones and become more positive, confident and successful. We are eager to learn more about democracy, improve our English skills and bring home the best memories. 

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Delegations were anxious and excited to meet one another. However, many of the tutors knew each other from pre-pandemic camps (2017-19) and were thrilled to meet again to share with delegates their love of civics and the values of democracies. 

After moving luggage into our cabins, we took group photos and then sat down to a tasty buffet lunch where we practiced “no waste,” taking only what we needed for our own nourishment. Next, we drew portraits of each other on envelopes for our camp post office so we can leave messages and treats for our new friends. 

To further encourage connections among the groups and nationalities, we played a bingo game that involved finding delegates who share various life experiences and interests.

The next activity prompted us to share fun facts about ourselves based on the number of toilet paper sheets we had randomly unwound from rolls.

After a hearty dinner, we reconvened to collaborate on developing camp rules that reflect the values of the camp and we created colorful posters to illustrate the top five rules for each of the physical areas of the camp, such as the lake, campfire, dining hall, and cabins. 

Before sunset, the activities team of Simas and Tomas called us to the lakeside and drew from Slavic mythology to describe the significance of fire for people throughout the ages. They waded into the lake, and by rubbing flint together over dry vegetation, started a small fire that we passed from person to person from the lake to the stack of kindling at the campfire site. 

Our fire soon grew into a warming blaze and we returned to our cabins happy and anticipating more activities with our new friends tomorrow.