"Life begins in the family," say brothers Algirdas and Remigijus Gataveckas, two artists, dancers and active members of society who were raised in an orphanage.

To support the "Country Without Orphanages" initiative, they decorated one Vilnius street with reverse graffiti inscriptions spelling out "Do you notice me?", reminding us that not all children are able to grow up in a family and live lives that we take for granted, freely creating and expressing themselves.

"Country Without Orphanages", an educational initiative of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute, aims to get as many people as possible to support the idea that children deprived of parental care should be raised in adoptive families or with their guardians, not be placed in institutions.

"This inscription, which only becomes visible in the rain, serves to silently remind us that there are children who have been forgotten, whose problems have essentially been ignored for years on end," claims HRMI communications specialist Julija Dailidėnaitė, the author of the idea. "Their lives are replete with painful challenges and do not always have room for carefree playtime and experimentation. This is why we were delighted that artists who themselves were raised in orphanages chose to support our idea and help bring awareness to the situation."

The "Country Without Orphanages" initiative collected signatures for a petition to have EU structural funds be invested not into buildings, but rather into services and support for families and children, at the same time encouraging people to adopt children or become foster parents.

More than 4,000 signatures were collected, as many as there are institutionalized children in Lithuania. The petition had already been submitted to the Lithuanian authorities, urging them to more actively deal with the issues faced by children deprived of parental care.