Women in Stupur village: “The men asked when we would calm down. And we create a business! ”| Life

In addition to the usual community activities, Stupuru has baked twigs, lyophilized (lyophilized) products, a sewing workshop, and a gym. There is no activity outside the walls of the community house; there is a family in the town that presses oil and makes cheese. In addition, people also farm here, because the Joniškis region is famous for its fertile lands.

“I’m coming soon, I’m still in the garden,” said the community president by phone. Lina Vyšniauskaitė, and after about fifteen minutes, wearing a flowing dress, she enters the community house.

We have already been received here Jolanta petrauskiene – also an active member of the community, a master of fork baking.

15min LIFE conversation with Lina and Jolanta – about life. Another where happiness can smell like strawberries or freshly cut grass. In which the activity is so much that the daylight hours – too small.

– When was your community formed?

Lina: Next year it will be 20 years. We were the first community in the area.

Jolanta: In the beginning there was a society of women farmers. Then came the time when the communities began to form and the communities were able to write a variety of projects. This is how we founded it. There are several women in our town who are very active and demanding. Everything wants. Maybe five.

Lina: The Farmers Association is still active and its president, Elytė, is an excellent travel organizer. Before the quarantine, we had a tradition of visiting a Lithuanian mansion every month. In this way, we broaden our horizons and communicate.

– Jolanta, you’re a branch baker. Did this activity start with the community?

Jolanta: How was I with the branches? We did not have a medical point in town. And we thought about what we could do in those rooms because of the unfortunate rooms.

Loreta, our project manager, writes projects. So we sat down and talked about what we needed. We thought we needed a small kitchen and I said I really wanted a branched baking machine. I want to learn. Then they tell me: after all, many of those branches.

We did everything very wisely, but nothing came out. Dough: dripped, tastes bad. The fork was fed.

But I don’t care, I want it for myself. The women wrote the project, we received funds. That’s when the first quarantine started and I started learning how to bake forks at that time.

Along with the branching machine, we had received both a recipe and a description of how to make it. We, of course, as good students, did everything very wisely, but nothing came out. Dough: dripped, tastes bad. The fork was fed.

– Or beaver?

Jolanta: Now no, we don’t. We started creating our own recipe. We bake, eat and so we create. What we didn’t do until we perfected the recipe. Everything is fine now.

I generally like cooking, I also make one-bite sandwiches. I attended courses where I learned how to make one-bite sandwiches. I prepared them for my friends, companies. So little by little, everything turned out.

Now I work with an individual activity certificate, baking twigs. And by constantly shopping, people find out about each other.

I can’t make one anymore, so we bake in two. And from the crumbs on the branch we make “Lazy”.

Lina: Jolanta shared a very good example of how communities can build a business. We, like other families, also cultivate. Once we planted fibrous hemp, they vanished. And the community has a small oil press in their kitchen. We started squeezing out a drop of oil, because how many of you were sitting in the community house on the machine?

So I thought I could buy my machine at home. And then my oil started to cry. And some friends want, and others. This is how my business started: from the community. Now I press various oils, hemp, pumpkin.

Jolanta: I still have a lease with the community. I am also considering buying myself a fork manufacturer. Like Lina, who tried it with oil and bought hers.

And another woman bought a freeze dryer and started her own business. We are all from a community school trying to see if we are willing and able to establish a business.

– So the projects are very important for the communities?

Jolanta: Yes, very necessary. Because you test it yourself this way and then you start to think if you could build your business or not.

Lina: And everything with us from projects. For example, there is a sewing shop. We all thought we would ship here, but only a few got hooked. One of them is Regina. If we need anything, like sewing curtains, we bring Regina. He also works under an individual activity certificate.

Jolanta: Even if there are minimal projects, we write. Have everything. Last year we bought paint and painted the entire hallway. We sew the curtains. The roof was only placed by the masters.

We fly everywhere, we look, our noses are long. We do not miss anything.

– What are the projects that finance community activities?

Jolanta: Local action group, Ministry of Agriculture, the elderly and others. We fly everywhere, we look, our noses are long. We do not miss anything.

– How much funding do you receive this year?

Lina: The last project with a freeze dryer was 10,000. The average per year, maybe around 15 thousand.

Jolanta: But such large projects are less common. There are also small – 1000, 500 euros.

Lina: When we fixed the outdoor equipment and outer space, there was also a considerable amount. When we ride the shoulders, it is also a great project.

Jolanta: That’s right, we shrugged because the place had no heating. And we heat the garbage that the peasants give us, so that we can say that we are burning the building for nothing. All we had to do was find a dog. By doing and working, we earn money and pay you a salary.

Lina: Much free, but he himself agreed. They say I still don’t do anything in winter, I’ll go and take care of it. This is how we turn.

– Lina, how are you doing with the oil?

Lina: I always press it fresh, I never keep it, I don’t have it stored. Add an hour or half a liter. So I don’t immediately pour it into bottles, I let it settle naturally. Both boys and men contribute to this activity. I made labels, health passports, specialists investigated: what is the composition of the oil and how much does it contain. I wonder, and also, the need for a label. I have already created a website.

– Freeze drying: an interesting activity too?

Lina: These are lyophilized products. Loreta dries everything this way with us.

Jolanta: Loreta is buying her own appliance and she does it on her own, at home. The community just tried. This is also done by other women in the community, so there is a long queue in the community apparatus. The products dry for about three days. Loreta dries everything, even the spice mixes she created.

Lina: Not everything, but almost everything. Except maybe a little lard. And the curd turns to chalk.

Jolanta: But it even dries the pine buds and milk.

The products dry for about three days. Loreta dries everything, even the spice mixes she created.

– I once tried to dry the milk easily. The fluff came out.

Jolanta: And freeze drying succeeds. Imkit, paragaukit.

Lina: Dried pine buds are like a lemon spice, they can be crushed and used in place of fish spice.

Jolanta: Loreta and dried herbs, spinach, acids.

Lina: Strawberries

Jolanta: Only now there is no vacation, we have nowhere to go. There are no fairs or outings where you can advertise. In the past, we exported our products and sold everything.

Lina: When we drive through the fairs, we fly the community flag. And we present ourselves as a community, we present ourselves as a product of our rural community.

When it comes to profit, I always put a piece into the community treasury because, after all, I use the community name. It is also awareness, diffusion.

Jolanta: We are still starting to do branched baking education.

Lina: We call them “Traditions of rural cooking again”. What did the grandmothers do in town? Cheese was pressed, oil was pressed, bread was baked, twigs were dried and the fruit was dried. We do the same thing, just in a different way, in modern times.

The branch used to be baked on fire, now we bake with electricity. Our fruit is dried differently and the cheese is pressed on a modern farm. We show everything through education. We cannot accept clients as we can only accept one group per week.

Jolanta: There was a recent group of doctors, elderly people, a music ensemble. A group of teachers will come. But we do not advertise our education in any way.

Lina: The best advertising is honest work. Asta, a member of our community, is a cheesemaker and the family runs a modern dairy farm.

In Asta, before quarantine, I did the “Milk Drop” education. It was fun. They have such a separate place for calves, so I would tell the kids that there is a calf kindergarten here.

Jolanta: There’s something for an adult to see, not just kids.

– And your men?

Lina: Our men sometimes say: will you ever be home? Still from home and home.

But they also participate in community activities. Now we have come up with the need to install a new door. We remove the old doors ourselves and there is no way to install the new ones ourselves. We wait for the men in the fields to work and ask them to install new gates.

The men asked when we would calm down. Then various activities arose. Now they cannot say anything, because we have created a business. Now they are silent.

Jolanta: At the beginning of the activity, it was important for us to go out, socialize, talk, drink coffee. The men asked when we would calm down. Then various activities arose. Now they cannot say anything, because we have created a business. Now they are silent.

Lina: We also have other activities. For example, before Christmas, we were one of the first to start visiting older people. Our community connects not only Stupur, but also four other surrounding villages.

We make gift bags. It’s a lot of fun and they are waiting for us with sliced ​​sausages, ready candies. Gifts: from your community. Loreta, for example, and candles are poured.

Jolanta: We buy oil from Lina, she packs it very well, with Loreta candles. From me – branches. We don’t need to go anywhere. We have our own gifts.

Lina: I don’t want to work with a definite time. I recently started attending creative writing courses, discovering myself in a variety of activities. And the best thoughts come from working on a farm.

Jolanta: You go out to the garden to weed and think.

Lina: We just want people to come here so they can be more involved in the community.