The following provides a detailed glimpse at the situation of street children in Tartu, Estonia and particularly at the Tartu Christian Children’s Home.
The work of the Christian Children’s Home is founded on the basis of folk culture and it is directed by Ms. Külli Kool. For example the children appeared at several summer song, handicrafts and music at the Viljandi cultural days. Home members also took part in the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the Finnish city of Oulu.
Other interesting trips for the children have involved visiting places associated with the struggles involved achieving Estonian national independance as well as the recent restoration of its sovereignty. Some places visited were the the Museum of Occupations,the famous ship “Suur Tõll“ and the submarine “Lembitu“.
Even more interesting was a trip to a farm on the Latvian-Estonian border that had belonged to some former “forest brothers“. The current owner of the farm, whose father and relatives were forest brothers has taken it to heart to pass on stories of the hard lives and battles these people had endured. The whole weekend was like a big history lesson. The host, Mr. Mõttus, was very musical and taught the children several stirring old battle songs.
These extra curicular activities have not harmed the academic progress of the students who are all studying diligently and doing quite well. Several have left the Home to obtain higher education.
This year’s visit and look at the situation of Tartu’s children disclosed that there are few if any young people there, who through circumstances of actual need, rather than personal choice, can be regarded as “street kids“.
Tartu Christian Home and the City Welfare Department of Tartu have finally managed to bring the problem of street kids more or less under control. In recognition of this the city of Tartu recently presented a city flag to the Christian Children’s Home.
This, of course, does not mean that the the task has been completed. Far from it. This is shown by the fact that for every place in the Home that becomes available, the city has two children waiting. The need is still significant as the situation in Tartu is probably better than that in many other places in Estonia, especially smaller localities and rural areas.
Let us add our efforts to help the situation improve even more. At the moment we have two aid projects either in progress or under consideration: One in Valga where the Children’s Support Fund will help vulnerable families get ready for the onset of winter and another in Viljandi where an emergency second floor exit is being installed in a children’s center. As well as Jõhvi and Kohila, we, together with the Tallinn International Rotary Club, are searching for an opportunity to help a start-up at Sillamäe where the municipal government along with several outside organizations is trying to establish a children’s home.
Your donations are forwarded to Estonia with the assistance of the Ottawa Rotary Club that issues eligible receipts for tax deduction purposes. There is almost no overhead expense because of the efforts of our volunteers and almost the entire amount of your donation goes to the intended children’s aid groups in Estonia.
We hope that even during the hectic Christmas season rush that you can find time to think of youngsters in the fatherland. As well, when you reflect on happy Christmases past, you might consider making an “in memoriam“ donation on behalf of someone who is no longer among us this holiday season.
The long oppresive decades under Soviet occupation during which family values as we know them were deliberately suppressed, have left their mark. There are still many young people in Estonia whose lives even now are not progressing down what we would consider to be a normal road.
Please do support this project and help ensure a brighter future for Estonian youth. You can forward your tax deductible donations to the following address:
Action Estonia
c/o Embassy of Estonia
Suite 210
260 Dalhousie Street
Ottawa, Canada
K1N 7E4
THE OTTAWA ESTONIAN SOCIETY ACTION ESTONIA COMMITTEE
Action Estonia Street Kids Project 2005/2006
Archived Articles | 09 Dec 2005 | EL (Estonian Life)EWR
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