My name is Laura Alčiauskaitė. I have just joined the ENIL team as a coordinator of TRIPS project. The main idea of this project is to make the urban transport more accessible for everyone. People with disabilities are the ones facing challenges while travelling, so they will be actively involved in the project by sharing their personal experiences and providing recommendations of how to make the urban transportation more user-friendly. You can find an article about the TRIPS project in the February issue of the Newsletter.
But now a bit more about myself. I come from Lithuania – a small, but beautiful country in the northern Europe. As well as starting a new job, I am in the process of completing a PhD in Psychology. The topic of my thesis is the internal resources and their importance to acceptance to disability process. My thesis is based on the idea of positive psychology, which truly matches my mindset of always looking on the bright side of the life.
So, even if I have a disability myself, I think of it as one of my many qualities I posses. I don’t even consider it as a disability; it is more like my lifestyle. Despite my physical limitations, I am able to enjoy the things I love – painting, laughing, working, travelling, meeting new people and learning something new every day. I feel passionate about nature and so, during my free time, I like to organize various activities about environmental protection and pollution reduction.
Also, I have been actively advocating for human rights and social rights since 2013 and I am a member of three different NGOs. Each of them is working on different topics (social inclusion, peace building, sustainable development goals, youth empowerment, etc.) and each of them brings me a lot of incredible experience, inspiration and personal challenges.
I see this job as a new positive challenge for me as well, so I am really excited to be a part of the team! I am sure we will do some great things together!
