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EESTI ELU reedel, 29. oktoobril 2021 — Friday, October 29, 2021
Professional Spotlight: Timo Einola, whitewater canoer and social worker Vincent Teetsov At the end of summer, Timo Einola travelled in a matter of days from a canoe expedition up by the Hudson Bay, to his hometown Toronto, and then all the way to Kelowna, British Columbia, to begin his master’s degree in social work. A distance of 5,000 kilometres extends between the key pursuits of his life. But at heart, they are much closer together. Canoeing is a sport that first caught his attention at an early age. Talking about how he got started, Einola explains how the camp he went to as a kid, Camp Towhee, did a five-day canoe trip every year. He continues, “I was then part of the leadership training program... I got the canoe tripping ‘bug’ through that.” That bug led to a job in Muskoka, at YMCA Camp Pine Crest, where he’s worked for eight summers now. As a coun selor, he was running three to five canoe trips right away and gradually moved from working with younger kids to leading longer, flatwater canoe trips for teenagers in places like Quetico Provincial Park and 20 days near Thunder Bay. Still, he wanted to dive into whitewater canoeing as it opened up more areas with less of the burden of portaging. Thus, he went to The Boundless School near Bancroft, Ontario. He notes how, “the area has some of the best beginner whitewater for canoeing and kayaking.” Having, at that point, studied social work at an undergraduate level, it was an opportunity to get a different type of work experience. The school had solo whitewater canoes that the staff were allowed to take on their days off, to go play in the rapids. The fun of getting out on the water made it easier to grow technical skills and prove him self as an outdoor leader. Einola
says, “A lot of these trips that I’m running as a guide are in very remote wilderness set tings... In that kind of setting, it’s about the ability to use risk management.” Einola has be come more experienced at reading rivers, and also making decisions based on group skill level and remaining physical energy. He can then teach kids to do the same. Each kid has a chance to be a “leader of the day”, watching the map and the changes of the river extra closely. So how do you read a river? Einola went back to the beginning and described how rivers flow to reach a larger body of water, and how rapids are formed. The steeper a river’s profile is from source to mouth, the faster the water flows. Rapids can also be caused by the narrowing of riverbeds or a sudden influx of precipitation, which increases a river’s discharge. The changes in a river create features like a “wave train”, where the water hits one area and re-circulates backwards. Then there are eddies, formed by an obstruction in the water, such as a boulder, with the water flowing around it. Einola says, “I equate whitewater canoeing to skiing or snow boarding, where you’re picking your lines and using the fea tures of the mountain to get from here to there.” Hazards to avoid include rocks, spinning river “holes”, steep drop-offs, and “screeners”, which are other blockages, like tree branches. Almost 10 years in the outdoor industry has shown Einola the best and worst case scenarios. This past summer, he led a trip on the Kesagami River which flows into James Bay, part of the Hudson Bay. Though much of the area is inaccessible by car, the group was driven one hour north of Cochrane, Ontario and dropped off on the side of the road,
Image used with permission from Timo Einola
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We’re hiring! The Estonian Foundation of Canada is looking for a roll-up-your-sleeves MANAGER to run the office of this exciting national charity. You will lead marketing, communications and fundraising and help take this charity to the next level. You will also manage the Foundation’s office, funding applications/ EFC agents, donations/donors, awareness campaigns, and ideally plan and write content for platforms such as the EFC website and community news outlets. This position is based in the Toronto office but can provide flexible hours, some remote work, and could evolve in future. You should have a basic understanding of Estonian. We are interested in hearing from you if you have most of these skills or willing to learn. Compensation commensurate with experience. Please apply with resume to: estonianfoundationpresident@gmail.com Estonian Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that supports Estonian cultural and heritage initiatives across Canada.
where they then paddled for seven days to Kesagami Lake and down the rapids to meet the confluence of the Kesagami and Harricana rivers. The closer to James Bay one gets, the conifers of dense boreal forests give way to birch trees, and the occasional seal swimming upstream. Before arriving, the group hired a ferry service from Moose Cree First Nation in Moosonee, to avoid the bay’s tides and heavy clay. As it happened, the ferry came for them a day early because of impending 40 kilometre per hour gusts, blowing in from a hurricane further south. One of the most trying expe ditions Einola has led was a 14day canoeing and hiking trip in the rugged terrain of Killarney Provincial Park. It started with one young canoer slipping on a rock and spraining their ankle, another spraining their knee, a third kid pulling a nerve in their back. Finally, a fourth kid who didn’t want to be there anymore deliberately broke his own toe. Thankfully, Einola is trained in wilderness first aid and was able to assess each injury. After conducting a spinal assessment, the back injury was treated successfully. However, a quarter of the group were still unable to continue and had to be carried two days to an evacuation point. Every trip has its tough moments, but major injuries haven’t happened on a trip of his in a number of years. Having a system to prevent and deal with these situations is part of holding everything together. During his undergraduate studies, he worked for the Integra Foundation, instructing youth with learning disabilities in the foundation’s Mindful Martial Arts program. Einola’s first connection to the program was before university, though, as a youth participant himself, and then as a volunteer. Brazilian jiu-jitsu and muay thai were tools to teach coping and self-regulation skills. When kids often don’t want to be there, he says a big part of his job is “understanding and vali dating the experience of the youth.” Even when an activity is usually enjoyable, you have to understand why someone
Welcome to the survey of Estonian communities abroad and diaspora members! It will take you around 15–25 minutes to complete the survey found here: https://diasporaa.ee/en/ In the autumn of 2020, a study focusing on the research of Estonian communities abroad was launched by the three ministries – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Culture. For the first time on such a scale, we turn to all Estonians abroad to study and un derstand the life, wishes and needs of Estonian communities abroad, as well as their expectations of the services offered by the Estonian state. The study is conducted by the Institute of Baltic Studies in partnership with Center for Applied Anthropology of Estonia. Several prizes will be drawn among the participants (gift cards/vouchers for Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, Lingvist and others). The total value of the prizes is 1000 EUR. The results of the survey will be published by the end of 2021. They will be used for the formulation of diaspora poli cy, the development of various services and activities, and the continued development of the Global Estonian program. Regards, KAIRI HEMINGWAY President, Estonian Central Council in Canada
might not be comfortable. And then, as a social worker, he finds ways to work through what’s making them uncomfort able, enabling a sense of ac complishment and satisfaction. Now starting his master’s degree at UBC’s Okanagan Campus, he is training to be come a child therapist. Thinking about the future, he’s enthusiastic about “poten tially creating programs part nered with organizations that will provide the gear and guides... to practice coping mechanisms in safe spaces, and then take kids out to do thera peutic work in the woods.” From a neurological perspec tive, it’s evident that beta endorphins released into the blood during exercise are bene ficial to one’s health. There’s also the benefit of sunlight, fresh air, achieving goals, and having a routine. Einola concludes that, even if you’re not down for a 20-plus day wilderness excursion, there is still something there for you in the outdoors, whatever your comfort level is.
Back to live music… (Continued from page 8)
mances, artists based in Estonia were live-streamed to viewers in Toronto, and all artists were viewable by audiences watching from home. The hybrid festival format, which was very fitting to use considering Estonia’s reputation as a digital society, has significantly expanded the ways Estonian and Canadian musicians can connect. As Estonian Music Week says in their mission statement, their goal is to “showcase the high caliber and creative diversity of Estonian and Estonian-Cana dian artists” and to “create a space for collaboration between Estonian and Canadian artists.” If you didn’t get the chance to see these moments in-person or online at the time they happened, be sure to watch the event recordings on Estonian Music Week’s YouTube channel and sign up to the festival’s newsletter (www.estonianmusicweek.ca) to keep in touch!
