Project “Rusnė”

Support to Rusnė Special Boarding School


Even though Lithuania is taking big steps forward and surprises with its achievements, good and famous deeds, however, the attitude and understanding towards a disabled child appearing in public is not quite tolerant yet. Disadvantaged children want to be a part of the society as any other children: they want to have the same opportunities as everyone. 

In a lot European and other countries as well as America, the disabled people are more visible and not hiding from life as compared to Lithuania. In our country, however, mothers with disabled children cannot be meet in streets, parks, museums and almost the rest of the public places. Why? Because in Lithuania, mothers do not feel comfortable appearing in public due to the reaction of the people around. There are a lot of children to whom a disabled child is a disgrace against the relatives, co-workers or neighbours. According to statistics, more than half of the families raising disabled children undergo divorce in the first fiver years. However, there are families who do not give up, fight and smile!

Disability is not a disease, it is impossible to cure it.

A disabled child affects the entire family. Estranged spouses after the birth of a disabled child usually divorce. The function of the family also changes: when a disabled person comes into the family, there is less money, some family members must limit their career. The family suffers from other problems: the parents must experience the disability of the child together; the mother feels guilt, distress, depression. Both parents pay less attention to their healthy children, and the latter feel guilt, shame, fear, reluctance to be enslaved by taking constant care of someone.

Different” children come to us to teach us to hear, see and listen... Because their world is more subtle than the world of healthy people. To be a family of a “different” child is a great privilege rather than the blow of fate. 

In 2005, Sisters of Smiltė came to Rusnė Special Boarding School for the first time. Disabled children raised in families are brought to this school from the entire Šilutė County. While the children learn, play and are educated by experienced teachers, their parents can work, live and be happy about them.

>It is now hard to count, how many times the Sisters of Smiltė visited the wards of the school and brought gifts, parcels, clothes, pieces of furniture, other inventory and necessary household utensils. When in July of 2006 six sisters from Hamburg’s BELLEVUE LIONS CLUB visited us, we brought them to the school in Rusnė. The German lionesses brought to children 3000 LTL worth of charity, which we spent to buy sportswear to the basketball team, sports shoes and basketball balls. After the return to Germany, the sisters soon spread the word that in a wonderful place of Lithuania, there is a school for disabled children which lacks a lot of things and needs help. The joint project to support Rusnė undertaken by Smiltė and German lionesses was coordinated by the sister Virginija Lazauskienė. With the help of German lions, we handed bedding, toys, clothes, footwear, and special inventory for the disabled, kitchen equipment to the school in Rusnė.

Every year, the sisters of Smiltė donate no less than 2000 LTL of support, which is used for Christmas presents, underwear for girls, computers, wheelchairs, etc. In 2008, the invoice for the tiles used to renovate the laundry was covered. Large shipments of charity were received thanks to the sister Virginija Lazauskienė and Nienburg Lions Club in Germany.

When Rusnė Special Boarding School asked for help with the implementation of the project to install a basketball court, the amount of 23 000 LTL was collected and on the 8th of May, 2014, a grand opening of the public court in Rusnė Special Boarding School took place. The Sisters of Smiltė came to congratulate the students on the first day of school on the 1st of September and brought basketball balls of real quality.

  • 3- rusne
  • DSCN9817
  • Mokytojo diena 026