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EESTI ELU reedel, 2. juulil 2021 — Friday, July 2, 2021
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Estonian author watches vaccination numbers, borders
Mary Gales Askren, Staff Reporter, Madison Daily Leader, Jun 25, 2021 The hint was subtle. More Asian passengers were wear ing masks on a return flight from a work meeting in January 2020, but Sirje Kiin wasn’t alarmed. Wearing masks is part of the culture in many Asian countries. Shortly after she returned to Madison, though, the pattern of her life changed. “After I came home, the pan demic broke out and the borders closed,” she said. Kiin, the wife of Dakota State University professor Jack Walters, is an Estonian author who serves on several boards in her home country and often speaks at conferences. For her, travel is an integral part of life. Suddenly, conferences she was planning to attend were canceled. The Estonian lan guage and culture class she had been teaching through the Toronto Summer University for 10 years was canceled. With her life disrupted, she found herself unable to work on her memoirs, which is the book she currently has in progress. “I was not able to concen trate,” she said. “Everything changed in my life.” Accustomed to releasing books and going on tour, she found herself at home, coping with the pandemic. She began to focus on strengthening her immune system by swimming and walking. She and Walters also started golfing. “Gardening has been helping me during the pandemic,” Kiin noted as she looked around the lush garden she has cultivated in their back yard. “I’ve been reading a lot, but not much writing.” She has also not seen her son or her grandson. “They can’t visit here and I can’t go there,” she said. They keep in touch through social media, email and videocalls. “That’s how he introduced his girlfriend to me,” Kiin commented, referring to her 22-year-old grandson Martin. This spring, as COVID vac cines have changed the impact of the coronavirus and seem to be stemming the tide of the pandemic, she is watching both numbers and borders. She knows that she will not be able to return to Estonia until the borders are open between the
two countries. “With my U.S. passport, I could not fly there,” Kiin stated. She admits that wearing a mask for the trans-Atlantic flight would be a hardship since she has asthma. But, at this point, that is a secondary consideration. Al though she has been fully vacci nated, she cannot go to Estonia because only about 40% of the 1.3 million people who live there have been vaccinated. Part of the problem there, as in the United States, is vaccine resistance. A CBS News poll earlier this month showed that 18% of Americans aged 18 and older will not get vaccinated. The poll showed that overall, Republicans are less likely to be vaccinated than Democrats. While 77% of Democrats report being fully vaccinated, only 52% of Republicans have been fully vaccinated. Similarly, 29% of Republicans report they will not be vaccinated while only 5% of Democrats hold the same position. In Estonia, where one-third of the population is Russian, the problem is Russian propaganda, according to Kiin. “Russia has developed its own vaccine. The European Union does not recognize it as a safe vaccine,” she said. How ever, Russian media reports other vaccines are not safe, influencing the decisions being made by Russians living in Estonia. “Even medical workers re fuse to take vaccines, only the Russian vaccines they can’t get,” Kiin reported. With that resistance, she doesn’t know how enough people will be vaccinated in the country for its borders to open. That was only part of the problem. Prior to May, there was a shortage of vaccines. However, in May, they became more readily available. Cur rently, there’s a nationwide registration system which al lows individuals to make an appointment anywhere in the country to get a shot. “You can see where it is free and book it,” Kiin said. Since a motorist can travel from border to border in about three hours, booking an appointment in a community other than the one in which an individual lives does not pose a hardship. As recently as last week, the European Union recommended member countries lift restric tions on visitors from the United States. However, each country has the authority to make its own decisions and could require testing or vaccina tion records. Kiin doesn’t know if she will ever fully resume her previous lifestyle because she doesn’t know whether organizations of which she is part will resume holding conferences and other activities as they did in the past. They have learned that Zoom conferences are far less costly,
The “Tere, KESKUS” campaign raised over $2.8m for KESKUS! Pictured are board chairs Liisa Käärid and Heili Toome with their families, and KESKUS supporter Dr. Jüri Daniel.
Over $2.8 Million Raised in Tere, KESKUS campaign! Aitäh and thank you to every one who contributed in the 3-day Tere, KESKUS cam paign to help build KESKUS International Estonian Centre in Toronto. The response from the global Estonian communi ty was truly overwhelming. Support came in from the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, New Zea land, Italy, Germany, Estonia and across Canada, from Vancouver to New Brunswick. The final amount raised was over $2.8 million, greatly exceeding the initial $1 mil lion campaign goal! Over 370 gifts were made during the campaign and each and every donor is truly appre ciated. From the young children who donated loonies from their piggy banks, to the young fami lies, grandparents and groups who donated tens of thousands of dollars: each and every dona tion made a difference. The KESKUS hard hat became a symbol of the international Estonian community coming to gether to build a current home. Special thanks goes to the Torokvei family who provided matching funds, generating a 4X impact for each donation. The campaign goal was in creased from $1m to $2.5m on Day 1 of the campaign due to overwhelming contributions and thanks to an Anonymous donor provided an additional $1mil lion in matching funds. All this helped the campaign surpass all expectations! Tõnu Kaljuste, Erki Nool, Anett Kontaveit, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves & More The Tere, KESKUS three-day virtual event featured perfor mances and special appearances from celebrities, dignitaries and
especially when international travel is involved. As she waits to see what kind of new norm will develop, and waits to return to Estonia, she is philosophical. “There must be some lesson for humankind. We must learn something from it,” Kiin said about the pandemic and paused to look around her garden. “We learned from it how important are the friendships and family we have.”
community members. Olympic Gold Medal Winner Erki Nool, Ambassador Toomas Lukk, Toronto City Councillor Mike Layton, Grammy-winning con ductor Tõnu Kaljuste, Chef Paul Lillakas, tennis pro Anett Kontaveit, Former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, blue grass band Curly Strings, singers Kadri Voorand and Rita Ray and many more made appear ances in support of KESKUS. Missed some of the events? You can stream each day’s pro graming via the www.estonian centre.ca website. Get Involved and Help Build for the Future The “Tere, KESKUS” cam paign may be over and match ing funds used up, but the Capital Campaign for KESKUS continues. Please join the grow ing list of KESKUS donors! The KESKUS International
Estonian Centre’s donor cate gories are Kalevipoja Laud for gifts of $100,000 and above (in cluding naming rights for spe cific areas), Viru Vanemad for gifts of $10,000 and above, and Kungla Rahvas for gifts under $10,000. To make a donation at the Kalevipoja Laud or Viru Vanemad level, or to donate securities or make a pledge to pay over time, please contact donations@estoniancentre.ca. Donations may be made as a family gift, or in honour of an individual or family. All Canadian, Estonian and U.S. donations will be issued a tax receipt. Let’s Keep in Touch! • Visit the KESKUS website at www.estoniancentre.ca for all the latest news • Sign up for the KESKUS monthly email newsletter at www.estoniancentre.ca • Follow KESKUS on Face book @EestiKeskus, Instagram @keskus.iec, Twitter @keskus TA R T U C O L L E G E STUDENT RESIDENCE
Tartu College is looking for a
Customer service oriented Administrator Administrator main duties include but are not limited to: • Answering phone calls and walk-in inquiries from current and new residents or potential clients looking for general accommodation and rental information, including cost and availability of residential rooms, hall event space, meeting rooms and parking. Provide appropriate applications on request. Do building and room tours, as required. • Direct in-coming calls to appropriate staff members and direct complaints to Management. • Process applications for correct school term; conduct searches, as required, to determine whether accommodations are available. • Conduct status checks and provide updates to students who have registered but have not received formal acceptance as a resident. • Carry out the day to day functions of the daily accounts receivable receipt control, reconcile receipts and income. • Help maintain Tartu College’s website and social accounts. • Activate Tartu Cash Cards and FOB accessibility, as needed. • Assist the Estonian Studies Centre with administrative duties, helping out with events and their fundraising program. Expectations for this position: • Experience working in an office environment. • Education in bookkeeping and customer service. • Knowledge of standard office procedures and bookkeeping. • Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with the general public, students and staff. • Good interpersonal and computer skills. • Ability to demonstrate flexibility and be a team player. • Ability to communicate in Estonian is an asset.
