Irena Senior’s experience: Lithuanian pensions are enough to allow quarantine in Cyprus

He has no doubt that if it weren’t for his activism and tech savvy he would be in Cyprus today and he wouldn’t teach others digital literacy either.

I. Armanavičienė says that his friendly relationship with technology developed during his working career. “I was a financial economist, so I had to work with specialized programs, read many laws, articles, search for material on the Internet. In addition, I have always been curious and constant learning is in my being “, says the interlocutor.

Technology – every day

I. Armanavičienė assures that without a computer, tablet, smartphone it is difficult to imagine your everyday life. “The phone is always at hand: I look up recipes and look at the timer during production, and I also use a pedometer and EKG to measure my heart rate. I use the Trafi and Bolt mobile apps for transport, Barbora to order at home and In my spare time: Sudoku and Find the Words game apps. Of course, I use e-banking, STI services, online registration with a doctor. Well, I communicate with friends and family with the help of Messenger and Viber: Skype and e. Email is out of fashion, I rarely use it, “he says.

The interviewer, who has mastered the technologies well, also helps others to become familiar with them: she volunteered at the Kaunas County Public Library before the quarantine. I. Armanavičienė notes that the population receiving training is constantly improving. “I used to come to training and a two-handed computer mouse. Now is the time to learn much more complex things, like making videos, ”says the woman.

Various initiatives help to acquire digital skills and start using technologies in Lithuania, for example, free trainings from the “Connected Lithuania” project are organized remotely, according to a press release. During the quarantine, residents of the country are invited to learn digital literacy and deepen their knowledge remotely. There are two ways to do this: choose from over 50 self-paced learning topics for beginners and advanced, or sign up for online classroom digital literacy training and choose from 11 training programs. In total, almost 80,000 people participated in free trainings. people of all ages.

As long as it takes, I live

Volunteering in the library is far from the first and only place of volunteering for I. Armanavičienė. She says she started volunteering after graduating in 2011. Her first volunteer experience was collecting information from a person in exile and transmitting it to the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Center. The woman then discovered the Senior Initiative Center, which she offered to send to Dublin and then Girstup Library, and has recently volunteered at the Food Bank.

According to the interlocutor, volunteering makes you feel needed and as long as you need something, you are alive. “When people ask me if I benefit, I feel uncomfortable because I don’t know a solid argument for why I’m doing it. It is probably related to character traits and love for people. The other, without paying anything, can sit on the couch and watch TV, and it’s always good for me to help people, no matter which colleague I call to contribute. It prevents aging, impaired memory and less willingness to visit the doctor ”, he jokes.

It is true that I. Armanavičienė’s list of activities is not limited to volunteering. She produces a lot, spends time with her grandchildren, takes care of houseplants, participates in mental battles, sings in the KTU “Graduate” choir, is a member of the worldwide postcrossing platform, says she is still learning English and Sometimes she goes to pool or dance classes.

Quarantine is allowed in Cyprus

However, I. Armanavičienė’s greatest passion is travel, which also helps him organize and travel independently thanks to his digital literacy skills: search for tickets on the websites and mobile apps of Wizz Air, Ryanair and Skyscanner, and accommodation on Booking and Airbnb. “When I travel in Lithuania and Europe, I use the map application very often, it would also be useful in Asia, only there is an expensive Internet.” Google Translate is ideal for traveling, “he says.

The list of places visited by the interlocutor stretches from European countries to the United States or the exotic Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam, and her most recent trip is an unexpectedly long vacation in Cyprus. “As I am an active person and would be psychologically affected by movement and communication restrictions, and otherwise difficult every year during the dark season, I decided to go to Cyprus for a month. However, after a month the flights were canceled and it is not clear when they will resume, ”says I. Armanavičienė.

The interlocutor, who spends the second month on the island, assures that the Lithuanian pensions are enough to live on, and the good weather, the sea and the longer days are happy every day.

“We don’t spend too much, we buy food in the market and we buy, we produce it ourselves. Every day we spend at least four hours outdoors, by the sea, and technology helps us find the objects we want to visit, the necessary transport and call a taxi. We have a tablet, we watch ‘Panorama’ and other programs or YouTube in the afternoons, we also look at the situation in our homeland ”, reveals the interlocutor.

The old woman, who radiates joy for life, says she will return to Lithuania when flights resume, and for the moment she is really happy with life here. “I thank destiny for giving me health and opportunities to have a great time at least in the autumn of life, which I could not afford in my youth,” says I. Armanavičienė.

More opportunities to learn digital literacy for free can be found at www.prisijungusi.lt.