I grew up in Toronto in the 50's and 60's not far from the Estonian House, Eesti Maja. My mother wanted me to join in the activities of the Estonian youth but I was against it and consequently had very little to do with anything Estonian. But an interesting thing happened to me when I acquired a friend who lived in Estonia and she invited me to visit. I booked a ticket to fly to Tallinn on August 20, 1991. The night before, Russian tanks had cruised the streets of Tallinn as the coup d’etat in Moscow played out. The Finn Air 747 plane left for Helsinki half empty.
On the Friday, August 23, it was the 52nd anniversary of the 1939 Molotov Ribbentrop Non-Agression Pact subjugating Estonia to Russian occupation and there was a demonstration at Pikk Hermann which we attended. I found myself standing next to my fellow countrymen and women, watching the flag hoisted, as the shoulders of the woman in front of me heaved up and down and a handkerchief continually going up to her eyes. My friend Lya said, "We have all agreed to eat potato peels, if necessary, to get our freedom". While the crowd sang young girls in traditional costume ran amongst the nearby rosebushes, unaware of the monumental changes occurring, a fact not lost on me as I stood there feeling incredibly astonished that I, a fringe Estonian, was witnessing this wondrous history in the making. Ceremony over, we drove the back country lanes where many people stood by fires at the side of the road waving the blue, black and white flag. Cars flashed their lights on and off and I encouraged our driver to honk. It was a night of unparalleled solidarity, marking the second time Estonia was independent in the 20th century.
Back in 1971 census figures showed that the Estonian ethnic group in Canada was frozen. A low reproductive age group, compounded by assimilation into non-Estonian marriages, and no immigration from Estonia to speak of, were strong indicators the Estonian population was endangered. The population in Estonia was l.36 million people as of August 2003, about 900,000 being blood Estonians. The birthrate overall in the country is 13,000 to a death rate of 18,355. This translates to a low fertility rate of 1.3 children averaged out per woman. Worldwide there are approximately one million Estonians, with roughly 160,000 Estonians living outside their homeland. Estonian communities larger than 1,000 people can be found in only 11 countries.
Looking at the state of our organizations and churches it is clear that we are short of people. The few able-bodied volunteers are overburdened. Lennart Meri spoke these poignant and haunting words in 1994: "Are these the first signs of weariness? No, we are not weary, and we will not become weary.. We have never tired throughout the seven centuries of carrying our country within ourselves." If our ancestors could carry their country in their hearts for seven centuries, twenty-eight generations, I am certain that we can and will muster the resolve and energy to keep our Estonian heritage alive and flourishing.
OUR COUNTRY WITHIN (6)
Archived Articles | 26 Feb 2004 | Eva VabasaluEWR
Viimased kommentaarid
Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
Life is diffucult, but where is it written that it has to be easy...Those, who complain about expected to grow up as Estonians yet, not taking this opportunity, have in my opinion nothing worthwhile to say, not at least to me. Estonians stay Estonians, no matter where they live. In our house parents made the choices for children. Learing the language and your cultural heritage should be an honor, not a burden. Maybe I need to explain at this point. A young friend told us, who grew up in Estonia during the communist occuptation,that her father who was a Director of a Wildlife Preservation and had a chance to go to Finland for a seminar. As he was waiting to board a boat, he was informed that his visit was canceled due to fact that he had relatives in United States, who were spies. The eye opener here should be, that the informers were his neighbors. By the way the spy should have been an old aunt who lived in Texas and sent packages once in while. This story is so similar to those I read in the newspapers today. When we have the opportunities, we do not take them and make excuses and worst of all at times our actions betray us and we do not deserve to bask in glory of the free Estonia today. How could we have failed to teach our children that Estonia and it's people were on the brink of genocide.
Very good point! Great idea! I would suggest that a group like EKN sit down now, while sentiments are fresh, with the leaders of several of the smaller groups and plan this one big event. It would obviously need to take place on a weekend to get more people to come, especially kids. It would be great if we could capture the spirit that Riina Kindlam describes this week in her article 'Märkmik: Virgutav Vastlavabariik'.
In my opinion, The main reason why the "Suur Aktus" on sunday was so poorly attended is because the 24th is perhaps " over celebrated",not that there is apathy.
There was an event on Friday,hosted by EKN, as well as a celebration party for the young people at Tartu College. On Sat. EV was celebrated at Lasteaed followed by "nimed Marmor tahvlil"
Sunday's event was in the middle of all this,because on Monday and Tues nights, EV was celebrated separately by the Estonian Schools and we were also encouraged to go to Toronto city hall for 11;00 for the flag raising on Tuesday.
Kitchener, Hamilton etc. and every other Toronto church celebrated separately over the weekend as did Ehatare, and many clubs.
Perhaps at a time when crowds were an issue this segmentation was necessary, however I would suggest that a more powerful impact next year might be ONE BIG EVENT involving every group, and every esto, rather than hostig +/- 15 little gatherings basically saying and doing the same thing.
Parents are not going to dress their kids or themselves up in rahvariided 3-4 times over a short time frame just to make an appearance everywhere. the older people also probably find it tiring to go to several events. Everyone has simply choosen to go to the ONE that is most convenient or most significant for their family.
There was an event on Friday,hosted by EKN, as well as a celebration party for the young people at Tartu College. On Sat. EV was celebrated at Lasteaed followed by "nimed Marmor tahvlil"
Sunday's event was in the middle of all this,because on Monday and Tues nights, EV was celebrated separately by the Estonian Schools and we were also encouraged to go to Toronto city hall for 11;00 for the flag raising on Tuesday.
Kitchener, Hamilton etc. and every other Toronto church celebrated separately over the weekend as did Ehatare, and many clubs.
Perhaps at a time when crowds were an issue this segmentation was necessary, however I would suggest that a more powerful impact next year might be ONE BIG EVENT involving every group, and every esto, rather than hostig +/- 15 little gatherings basically saying and doing the same thing.
Parents are not going to dress their kids or themselves up in rahvariided 3-4 times over a short time frame just to make an appearance everywhere. the older people also probably find it tiring to go to several events. Everyone has simply choosen to go to the ONE that is most convenient or most significant for their family.
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