Representatives from two post-secondary institutions in Estonia were in Toronto the week before last to plan a practicum program at Ehatare for their students. Representatives from both the Tartu Health Care College as well as at the Tallinn University’s Haapsalu College spent a week in Toronto meeting with Ehatare management and staff, as well as with the Estonian Relief Committee of Canada (ERC) board members.
Tartu Health Care College is home to 1300 students and 13 programs, including training for nurses, physiotherapists, midwives, emergency medical technicians, radiography technicians, environmental health specialists, mental health professionals, biomedical laboratory scientists, and care workers, to name a few.
Haapsalu College has approximately 250 students within four study programs, with fields of study including health behaviour and nutrition. Last year the college introduced a masters degree course with a newly created curriculum by which students will learn about best practices to better involve older adults in the community and make use of their skills.
Participating from Tartu were Tiina Uusma, the head of the vocational training department; Krista Staškevitš, the study abroad coordinator; Merle Varik, associate professor for the nursing and midwifery program; and Imbi Sagar, lecturer and lead instructor.
Tallinn was represented by Heli Kaldas, the director of the Tallinn University Haapsalu College; and Tiina Tambaum, head of the “Community Work in an Aging Society” masters program. Tiina has published research papers on intergenerational learning, social inclusion for older men, and ageism; and gives talks on topics of healthy aging and gerontology education.
The hard working and diligent management and staff at Ehatare actively met for three days of meetings with the representatives from Estonia to ensure that the cooperative exchanges would be successful and would offer Ehatare residents the greatest benefit possible.
In addition to practicum program development meetings, representatives from the two post-secondary education institutions and ERC board chairman met with a representative from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto to discuss potential future ventures that could include Ehatare. The meeting was arranged by Maimu Mölder, who is a former ERC board member and volunteers to improve the older adult experience in the community.
The visitors also took in a lecture at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, which is situated near Ehatare. The lecture and on-campus tour were organized by Tiina Maripuu, who herself is a Medical Anthropology PhD student at the University of Toronto who specializes in palliative care and aging. During the visit, the post-secondary university representatives had a productive meeting with a representative from the International Students Centre.
Estonians in Toronto had an opportunity to meet the visitors from Estonia through events organized by the Ehatare Foundation. These included a lecture at Tartu College by Merle Varik and a talk and interactive group activity at St. Peter’s Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Toronto by Tiina Tambaum, which culminated in an online video entitled “Toronto eestlased helistavad”.
Allan Meiusi, the ERC Chairman, and Tiina Maripuu along with other ERC board members, have been working diligently to move the coop program forward. If all goes according to plan, the first students will be at Ehatare as early as this summer.
“This has been a dream of mine to bring students from Estonia to Ehatare”, says Allan Meiusi. “It is a win-win situation where Ehatare residents benefit from Estonian speaking post-secondary students enriching their daily lives for several months at a time and the students from abroad gain valuable international experience in their respective fields.”
The Estonian Relief Committee of Canada is grateful to the Ambassador in Canada, Margus Rava, and the staff at the Embassy of Ottawa for their assistance with providing post-secondary institution contact information in Estonia.
The Estonian Relief Committee of Canada is not only the decision making body for Ehatare, which is the retirement residence and nursing home, but is a charitable foundation that has been doing good works for the Estonian community both in Canada and in Estonia. Donations can be made to the Estonian Relief Committee of Canada through the Ehatare management office.
