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EESTI ELU reedel, 31. jaanuaril 2020 — Friday, January 31, 2020
Paper: Estonia preparing for coronavirus with help from Sweden
Donor Profile: Viru Vanemad
Maret and Rein Pajo Perseverance and faith in the future are core values for this family The deeply felt principles that guide the Pajo family are perseverance, faith in the future and, above all, eestlus – pride in being Estonian. This is why Rein and Maret Pajo are supporting the new International Estonian Centre (IEC) as Viru Vanemad donors. The couple have felt these family principles even more strongly recently as Rein put the finishing touches on his family history, which was published in October 2019. Titled “Üle kolme kontinendi” (“Across Three Continents”), it chronicles the life of his parents Elmar and Klarissa, who embodied what it meant to never give up. In 1944, when the Soviet forces were getting ready to invade Estonia, Elmar Pajo was station master at the Kilingi-Nõmme train station in Viljandi. He was also a member of “Omakaitse” (Estonian Home Guard). Rein was just three years old. Because of his actions with Omakaitse, Elmar was arrested by the Soviets and taken to Leningrad with his compatriots to stand trial. Some were sentenced to death and others to prison. Elmar was sent to prison camps in Siberia, where he would stay for 12 years. Rein and Klarissa escaped the country and settled in a German refu gee camp for five years before coming to Canada. After arriving in Canada, Klarissa worked several jobs concur rently to provide for the family. “She was a remarkable woman,” Maret said. “We had no idea where my father was, but we deduced through carefully worded communications from our rela
tives in Estonia that he had been “detained,” Rein said. Contact with Elmar was finally made in 1956 when he returned to Estonia. “My mother began an intensive effort to bring my father home to us here in Canada,” Rein said. “She wrote countless letters to government offi cials, anyone who could help, and never gave up.” The long-awaited and hard-fought result was that Elmar came to Canada and was reunited with his wife and son, who had settled in Toronto. “We went to the Toronto airport to meet him and I walked up to him and said ‘Tere, isa.’ I will never forget it.” “And, after all those years apart, mom and dad got along like two peas in a pod and had 45 years together in Canada. They died within a few months of each other in 2010.” Rein and Maret, who live in Toronto, have two sons: Mati and Toivo who have been very involved in the Estonian community, including attend ing Estonian school and Jõekääru sum mer camp, and participating in scouts and folk dancing. Mati, married to Talvi (Hess), is now the father of four: Mikk, 10; Kaili, 8; Kaia, 7 and Heiki, 5. Toivo, married to Sally (Aspinall), has three daughters: Bronwyn, 15; Annabelle, 10 and Sarah, 9. “We can see how our sons and their contemporaries are now doing a lot of the work in helping sustain the Estonian community, as we did, and our grandchildren are waiting in the wings. Some of them are already going to the Estonian summer camp Jõekääru, Estonian gymnastics, scouts and guides,” Maret said. “Our oldest granddaughter, Bronwyn, lives in Kingston, away from the Estonian community, but considers herself to be Estonian. She, too, goes to Jõekääru every summer and she
St. Peter’s AGM, Vancouver, January Report of Chair, Marie Kaul-Rahiman Thank you for giving up your afternoon to contribute to the well being of our congregation. This past year has been both a revelation and a challenge. I can honestly say that my spirit has grown closer to God. He has given me a new found appreciation for teamwork. We are never alone. The year started with a brand new council. Every council member was in a new position with new responsibilities and a mountain of tasks to be completed. As a team, we forged ahead and grew into our new roles as church council mem-
Photo: Olev Rumm
bers. We prayed together, agreed and disagreed together, and came up with new solutions together. Our council has implemented new spending policies, a streamlined agenda, and the Rolling Action Implementation Log to keep track of all our tasks and projects, of which there are many. We had meetings and discussions with Bishop Greg Mohr and Pastor Kathy Swift to explore the opportunities our congregation has for growth, and to define our strengths so we can build on them. While we are currently a church in transition, we are also a “destination church”. Esto nians have always and will continue to come from far
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sang in the Noortelaulupidu (Youth Song Festival) in Tallinn in 2017. She plans on attending the University of Toronto, as we did, and the proximity of the new centre to the campus means she can walk to activities there, meet her friends and make new ones.” “We want our grandchildren to have the same opportunities that we did, to make lifelong friendships,” Maret said. “The closest friends our boys have are the ones they made when they were young children, partic ipating in Estonian activities.” They also feel a modern, connected IEC will raise Estonia’s profile and help ensure its independence. “The more awareness and buy-in we get from non-Estonians, the better,” Rein emphasizes. Rein and Maret say it is time to look to the future, while acknowledg ing and honouring the past. “When the original Estonian House was purchased, it was quite controver sial. People questioned why we should buy this old schoolhouse – but it ended up serving us for many years,” Rein said. “But now that it’s no longer sus tainable, we need to move on, to build an exciting new place to gather and call our own – to be able to say ‘that’s us!’” Rein’s family story caught the imagination of Estonian playwright Tiit Palu who wrote “Klarissa kirjad”, which was performed to critical acclaim in both Canada and Estonia.
and wide to connect with their Estonian heritage and culture. As a congregation, we need to explore and embrace all those traditions that bring Estonians together, and imagine new ways to make those traditions relevant in our community today. To that end, we partnered with the Vancouver Estonian Society to commemorate our Indepen dence Day and the 30th Anni versary of the Baltic Way. We were happy to provide coffee and sandwiches for all the extra people who came to church on the Sundays when VES had films to show in the afternoon. We also joined forces with the Society for the Advancement of Estonian Studies in Canada to remember the 75th anniversary of The Great Escape. And we welcomed the Läänetuul Choir to sing for us not once, but twice. These events have all boosted our attendance numbers, and we hope to continue on this path of inclusivity to welcome the Baptists, the Orth odox, the Latvians and Lithuanians to our Sunday services. I want to thank my fellow council members and our congregation for their continued support and patience as we try
“If my parents were still alive, they would certainly have encouraged us to donate to the new centre,” Rein said. “That’s one of the reasons we are supporting it. We don’t want these things to be forgotten.” “Üle kolme kontinendi” (“Across Three Continents”) is available at the Tartu College Library in Toronto, in English and Estonian. Get involved and help support our future The International Estonian Centre’s capital campaign donor categories are Kalevipoja Laud for gifts over $100,000 (including naming rights for specific areas), Viru Vanemad for gifts over $10,000, and Kungla Rahvas for gifts up to $10,000. Stay tuned for the launch of the Kungla Rahvas campaign in 2020. To make a donation, please contact Urve Tamberg at donations@estonian centre.ca. Donations may be made as a family gift, or in honour of an individual or family. All Canadian and U.S. donations will be issued a tax receipt. Let’s keep in touch! • Visit our website www.estoniancen tre.ca for regular updates • Sign up for our monthly email news letter at www.estoniancentre.ca • Follow us on Facebook: @ EestiKeskus
new things. Our biggest fear is that our congregation will continue shrinking. Our hope is that more families and indivi duals will join us on Sundays. To that end we have encouraged the Estonian School to create a welcoming family space in the basement classroom that can also double as a Sunday School setting in the future. Pastor Kaerma is ready and willing to offer Confirmation classes to the young and young at heart. Bible study groups are also being organized by neighbour hood, so there will be less driving or bussing required, specifically to encourage our congregation members to be active, together. You will hear other positive news today, in the other officers reports. We have new members. Our Sunday worship service average attendance number has increased from 18 to 26 people. Our donation income has increased by approximately $3,000. And Pastor Kaerma has agreed to be employed by St. Peter’s for another year. These are all amazingly wonderful things. But we need your help and support to con tinue on the path of growth. Resting on our accomplish-
Following the diagnosis of the Wuhan coronavirus (2019nCOV) in France, other Euro pean countries are preparing for possible cases as well, including Estonia, which currently sends its samples to Sweden for testing but will be equipped to do its own lab testing for the virus within the next couple of weeks. The current coronavirus and its spread have been compared first and foremost with the related severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that began to spread in 2002, which did not reach Estonia, but considering the fact that no vaccine currently exists for the Wuhan virus, people are currently worried about the course of the illness as well as its most serious possible complication – death. Thousands of cases of the Wuhan coronavirus have been confirmed. In comparison, a total of nearly 55,000 people in Estonia were diagnosed with influenza during the 2018-2019 flu season, 57 of whom died, indicating a mortality rate of 0.1 percent. The Health Board has already sent guidelines to healthcare providers regarding what personal protective equipment is required in the handling of patients that are either con firmed or suspected to be carrying the virus, and according to Kadai, these are fairly standard everyday items, including respirators, protective gowns and protective gloves, and, in the case of certain procedures, protective goggles and long-sleeved waterproof protective gowns as well. At this time, Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not calling for anyone with travel plans to China to cancel them, but does recommend people avoid traveling to Hubei Province; the ministry will continue to monitor the situation and update its travel advisories as needed.
ments of the past year will not help us meet our goals for the year ahead. This coming Sep tember we will be celebrating our Congregation’s 70th Anni versary. We would like to hear your ideas as we plan an event that will be both memorable and meaningful. I would love to have a photo display or a video presentation that depicts the special events from each decade of our churches history. There will be speeches, food, and music. Obviously you are all invited. But who else would you like to see in attendance? How much should we spend? We look forward to hearing your thoughts, and your hopes for our church and it’s future.
