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U.S. Military Assistance to Panevezys School for Deaf and Hearing- Impaired Children

November 2, 2003

Military representatives from the US Embassy visited the Basic School for the Deaf and Hearing-Impaired Children in Panevezys in order to transfer over 80,000 Litas worth of property to the director of the school. This property is part of the ongoing US Armed Forces in Europe Humanitarian Assistance Program executed by the US Embassy in Vilnius.

The items included furniture, appliances, exercise equipment, and even toys. The Director of the school stated that the two refrigerators they received were among some of the most important items they needed. Prior to this the school cafeteria, which feeds over 70 children a day, had only one small refrigerator. The children seemed most impressed with the dozens of army sleeping bags, TV sets and bicycles.

The current property grant came less then a month after a contracting official from the US Embassy signed a contract with a Lithuanian construction company that will renovate the same school. The US Armed Forces Humanitarian Assistance program grant, which is more than $145,000, will enable the school to adjust the current building to the teaching needs of the hearing-impaired children and add a sports and recreation hall.

The Embassy has been involved with this school since June 2003 when the former U.S. Ambassador visited the school and was impressed with faculty and parent commitment to help their children school. The current U.S Ambassador Stephen D. Mull hopes to visit the school some time in the future. Renovations will begin later this month and the project should be completed in February 2004.

The Basic School for the Deaf and Hearing-Impaired Children in Panevezys provides specialized instruction to over 70 students and also serves as a dormitory for 30 children. The children travel to Panevezys from all over Lithuania in order to receive specialized instruction offered at the School for children with their kind of needs. Three orphans live at the school. The Panevezys School for the Deaf is one of only five such schools in Lithuania. They opened their doors just ten years ago. The school will be celebrating its tenth year of educating the deaf on 28 November at the Center for the Deaf in Panavezys.