When Andreea from Romania and Theo from France arrived in Lithuania in the spring of 2016 to take part in projects under the European Voluntary Service (EVS)*, they hoped to gain new experiences, discover a new culture, and contribute to local communities. What neither of them could have imagined was that their volunteering year would become not only a period of personal growth and learning, but also the beginning of connections that would shape their lives for years to come.

*The European Voluntary Service (EVS) was the predecessor of the European Solidarity Corps.

Their paths first crossed during the On-Arrival Training in Molėtai, where international volunteers gathered at the beginning of their projects in Lithuania. Although they were participating in the same programme, their placements were very different. After the training, Andreea travelled to Skautų slėnis in the Ukmergė district, while Theo began his volunteering project at Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park.

The connection they formed during those first days did not fade after the training. Despite living in different parts of the country and being involved in different activities, they continued to find opportunities to meet, talk, and spend time together. Looking back today, however, they emphasise that one of the most valuable aspects of their volunteering experience was not only the relationships they built with each other, but also the communities and friendships they found in Lithuania.

“I found my people in Lithuania,” says Andreea.

Skautų slėnis holds a particularly special place in her memories. She spent most of her volunteering year there, and the local community quickly became a second home. Many of her most meaningful memories from that period are connected to this place.

“It was our happy place,” Andreea recalls.

According to her, the international volunteers in Lithuania quickly became close friends. Shared activities, training courses, and everyday challenges created a strong sense of belonging that remained long after their projects had ended.

Theo’s experience was very different. He spent his volunteering year at Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park, where he took part in environmental, educational, and community-based activities. Interestingly, when choosing a project, he focused not on the destination country but on the topic itself.

“I didn’t choose volunteering based on the country. I chose a project based on a topic that was close to me – nature,” Theo explains.

His interest in environmental protection ultimately brought him to Lithuania. During his volunteering service, he organised discussions on sustainability, contributed to educational activities for children, collaborated with biologists, and participated in various environmental initiatives. Some days began before sunrise, as he joined specialists in observing wildlife, collecting data, and carrying out field research.

One of Theo’s most memorable experiences was organising a children’s camp together with other volunteers. Wanting to leave something meaningful behind, they installed swings in the park that visitors still use today.

“We wanted to leave something behind,” he says.

Although their volunteering experiences were very different, Lithuania became a place where both of them found a community that would remain important throughout their lives. Andreea lived in Lithuania from April until November, while Theo stayed from April until October. During that time, they not only gained valuable experience but also built friendships that have endured to this day.

Both remember feeling genuinely welcomed from the very beginning.

“People were incredibly hospitable, caring, and sincere,” they say.

One experience that particularly stayed with Andreea was the time she became ill. She remembers how staff members and people around her took care of her as if she were part of their own family.

“We felt welcome from day one,” she recalls.

For this reason, Lithuania became much more than simply the country where they spent their volunteering year. It became a place where friendships were formed, confidence grew, and lasting connections were created.

Their story did not end when their volunteering projects came to a close. They continued to stay in touch with the people they had met in Lithuania, visited friends, attended reunions, and maintained close relationships with the communities that had shaped their experience. Among those connections, their own relationship gradually grew stronger as well.

Today, ten years after first meeting in Molėtai, Andreea and Theo are married and raising their two-and-a-half-year-old son, Iacob Saulius. Although they admit that Lithuania still holds a special place in their hearts and that they would happily live here, they ultimately decided to settle closer to their families.

“We didn’t want our son to grow up far away from his family,” they explain.

That does not mean, however, that their connection with Lithuania has faded. On the contrary, Andreea and Theo regularly return to visit friends and communities that became an important part of their lives a decade ago. Skautų slėnis continues to hold a particularly special place in their hearts.

“We feel at home in Lithuania,” they say.

The connections they formed here remained important even during some of the most significant moments of their lives. Their wedding was attended by people they had met during their volunteering service – members of the Skautų slėnis community, organisers, friends, and others who had become an inseparable part of their story.

“Some of the people we met in Lithuania became so important to us that we couldn’t imagine our wedding without them,” the couple shares.

To this day, they remain in close contact with people they met during their volunteering experience. They stay connected with friends and former volunteers, and sometimes new volunteers arriving in Lithuania are even given their contact details to seek advice or support.

Andreea and Theo’s story is a reminder that international volunteering creates much more than new skills or professional experience. It helps build friendships, strengthens communities, encourages intercultural understanding, and creates connections that last for years. Sometimes, a single decision to volunteer abroad becomes the beginning of a story whose impact can still be felt a decade later.

The connection that began in Lithuania ten years ago eventually grew into a family, but when Andreea and Theo look back on their experience, they first speak about the people, communities, and opportunities that volunteering brought into their lives. It is because of those experiences and relationships that Lithuania remains a place they will always want to return to.

The photos show moments from Andreea and Theo’s volunteering projects in Lithuania in 2016.