Lithuanians or descents of Lithuanians can register in a form uploaded to the Facebook group "Mes - lietuviai pasaulyje" till 5th December. After that, every participant will get the name of a person he or she should contact and send a small Christmas present.
The administrator of the Facebook group Agnė Mariankinaitė–Babičevienė says that the idea to connect Lithuanians that are living abroad came last year before Christmas.
"The idea was in our heads for a long time. In our group, we have many Lithuanians that are living in different parts of the world. There are people from 90 different countries in our group. Some of them live in Lithuania. Our idea is to connect our nationals. Therefore, we decided that sharing Christmas gifs would be a nice initiative to build emotional bridges between Lithuanians", adds she.
Participants of the initiative are asked to send postcards, letters or small souvenirs from countries they live to other Lithuanians. At the moment, there are around 200 people that have already decided to join the initiative.
"It is so rare nowadays to get a handwritten letter. Some warm words from another Lithuanian can make Christmas time more beautiful. Christmas is the time to remember the ones we love and care about. A sincere letter from another Lithuanian can make this celebration even more positive, especially if you are living abroad alone", A. Mariankinaitė–Babičevienė believes.
This is the second year in a row when world Lithuanians are invited to share Christmas greetings all around the world. Administrators of the group on Facebook hope that it will grow into a nice tradition.
A. Mariankinaitė–Babičevienė points out that initiatives like this help to strengthen the relationship between world Lithuanians.
"Lithuania is its people. We are creating our country in those places where we live. Some temporary, some for all. Sometimes it happens that after moving out of the country social connections are lost. On the other hand, even living close to each other does not guarantee a close social relationship. This is why with this initiative we try to create social bonds, friendships and to strengthen our unity", she concludes.