On 8 August, a 10-day children's summer camp for children from the city of Dolyna in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, organized by the local government of the Šiauliai District of Lithuania, ended.

"On 8 August, a 10-day children's summer camp for the children of our municipality, organized by our twinning municipality , Šiauliai district in Lithuania, ended. Such initiative became possible within the framework of the Agreement on the Rehabilitation of Children signed earlier. Happy, with new impressions and wonderful emotions, the boys and girls have already returned home," said Ivan Dyriv, Mayor of Dolyna.

From 29 July to 5 August, 36 children from Dolyna municipality, accompanied by 4 teachers had a rest in the “Sunny Coast” children's summer camp near Pailgis Lake in Švenčionių district.

Here, together with other children, Ukrainians participated in various activities, sports competitions and educational events. Since many children visited Lithuania for the first time, the camp manager organized study trips for the Dolyna delegation to Trakai, Kernave and Vilnius. For another three days, the children from Ukraine camped in in Melnragė, enjoyed the beautiful beaches of the Baltic Sea and visited Klaipeda.

On the way from the camp in Švenčionių district to the camp on the seashore in Melnragė, the Ukrainians went to Šiauliai district to see the most beautiful and famous places of Šiauliai district, where they met with the district leaders.

First of all, the Ukrainian bus went to visit the world-famous Hill of Crosses, located in the Šiauliai district. Impressed by the Lithuanian landmark, the Ukrainians themselves erected a cross on the Hill of Crosses for the victory of Ukraine in the war.

Ukrainians came to Kuršėnai, Laurynas Ivinskis Square, wearing traditional national clothes – vyšyvankas. The children of Dolyna city and their teachers were greeted by the mayor of Šiauliai District Municipality Antanas Bezaras, his deputy Česlovas Spartas and mayor’s assistant Rita Žadeikytė, who briefly told about Šiauliai district, and the guests presented the mayor their drawings on the theme of Friendship between Ukraine and Lithuania, which they created while they were staying in the camp.

 

 

The children from Dolyna had a walk along one of the longest pedestrian bridges in Lithuania to Kuršėnai Manor, where they heard the history of Kuršėnai city and tasted traditional Kuršėnian sweets and herbal tea.

After their stay in Kuršėnai, the guests went to Klaipeda, Melnragė. In Klaipeda, pre-planned activities and sightseeing trips were organized for them. On 8 August, the guests went back to Dolyna.

This trip for the children of Dolyna municipality is a gift from Šiauliai District Municipality. With the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, within the framework of the Bridges of Trust Initiative, a partnership agreement was signed between Lithuanian and Ukrainian municipalities: on 12 July, the mayor of Šiauliai District Municipality Antanas Bezaras signed a cooperation agreement with the mayor of Dolyna municipality Ivan Dyriv. However, cooperation between municipalities began long before the signing of the memorandum – when they started to participate in the Bridges of Trust Initiative in autumn 2021.