Approaching the Lithuanian Social Workers’ Day, celebrated on September 27th, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (SADM) invites you to take a closer look at the profession of a social worker, according to a press release.
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Jaunius, working as a social inclusion coordinator and social worker at the Kėdainiai Family Support Center, helping families with addictions, recalls how he discovered social work studies and says that when he started treatment for addiction, he realized how much professionals working in the social field can help.
“I personally experienced how they ‘mold’ a person from me. I experienced how they help form values, principles, and ultimately – self-esteem, how they make you believe in yourself and others. All of this is the contribution of social field workers. The fact that you can help a person believe in life, believe in their own strength, their worth – is the main reason why I chose this path. I felt indebted and grateful, so I wanted to help others myself, to contribute to changes in other people’s lives,” says Jaunius.
Asked what qualities are needed to be a good social worker, the interviewee answers without hesitation: “One main quality is to be able to be human. And sometimes being human is not that simple. It is important to be able to listen, hear, respond to a person’s needs, find an ‘approach’ to the person, but at the same time be strict, set boundaries. I think all of this is about humanity.”
Speaking about the work, Jaunius emphasizes that what is definitely not present in this job is routine. “A new day means a new step. Forward, and sometimes backward. Routine could perhaps only be called the fact that every day you are on a path of searching how to help a person believe in their strength to make changes,” he says, emphasizing that the shining eyes of people who understand they can change are the strongest driving force in his work.
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He also recalls a story of how he helped a young person recover and find meaning in life during a very difficult moment. “Huge debts, a difficult housing situation, generally – lack of skills to live, let’s call it, a normal life. And we managed all that in less than a year. It’s beautiful to watch and admire how a broken jug was glued back together,” recalls Jaunius, who is on the path of a social worker.
Asked how he rests from work, the interviewee lets us understand that this profession is far from just a job for him. “Everything I do after work is in one way or another related to people – volunteering, community activities. I guess I am simply on the right path where I am supposed to be, because every day I feel satisfaction at work, knowing that I contributed to something good, did something from the heart, that today I was human,” says Jaunius with a smile, emphasizing that since the beginning of his studies he has felt that this profession is simply his path.
On the occasion of the upcoming holiday, Jaunius wishes his colleagues to enjoy the small things: “The more attention we pay to small things, the more we rejoice even in the smallest victories, if they at least somewhat changed another person’s life. That’s how great achievements come.”
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