Youth development in Lithuania

Our mission

Equal opportunities for young people without an intact parental home

Education, professional qualification and self-confidence are the keys to an independent life. A well-functioning parental home promotes this development even beyond the age of majority.

Our goal is to give young people who have to grow up without caring parents the same opportunities that children from intact families have. We have been involved in Lithuania for over 20 years, initially in supporting two orphanages and, for some years now, increasingly in supporting young people on their educational path.

We believe in the principle of “encourage and challenge“. Experienced Lithuanian social pedagogues help young adults to identify a perspective, formulate goals and find the ways to achieve them. A small stipend helps supplement inadequate government funding.

As a recognized German non-profit organization, we finance all of this with donations. Our experienced team works exclusively on a voluntary basis, so that almost 100% of the donations actually arrive. As a small, manageable organization, we can and also want to intentionally engage our donors. A sponsorship for a child or an educational sponsorship for a young adult may include personal contact.

Many sponsorships have developed into a very personal relationship as mentor, friend or parental advisor. Once a year, we invite people to join us on the trip to Lithuania, meet the sponsored child or mentee, and get involved in the work with young people at a workshop.

Again and again we experience touching moments in which we are allowed to experience what a young person feels when he or she feels unaccustomed to personal care. Over the many years, we have accompanied hundreds of young people as they grew up and are happy to see them become independent young people.

Your Board of Directors:

Otmar Debald (first chairman)
Jurate Bogacz (second chairwoman)
Christine Scheidt (Finance)
Simone Graubner-Müller (training sponsorship)
Ingrid Debald (Sponsorship Program)
Verena Nacke (Marketing/Communications)
Susanne Welsch-Lehmann (Website)
Frank Welsch-Lehmann (CRM)