August in Review (2024)

Key insights

• This month, we commemorated the 33rd Anniversary of Estonian Re-Independence; speeches were given by AESL President Juho Looveer and Honorary Consul of Estonia in Sydney Sulev Kalamäe, and from Estonia, we were invited to share photos of what makes you truly cherish Estonia.
• The Pärnu Suurpõgenemise ’44 Memorial Statue “Puudutus” started construction, to be unveiled on the Parnu riverbank on Saturday September 21/2024. This was only possible thanks to the efforts from countries like USA, Australia, and Canada, who have raised nearly 74,000 euros.
• Australia welcomed new Estonian ambassador Jaan Reinhold.
• We fared well to Sydney-born Lembit Salasoo, who passed away at age 68 on August 17, 2024 surrounded by his loving family in the United States.
• Bestseller, The Wolf in the Woods, originally published in Estonia as Hunt Metsas by the highly-regarded Eesti Raamat, is now available in an English language version.
• Andreas Scholl is Performing Arvo Pärt in Sydney and Melbourne in October — book your tickets

Update from AEMP

It’s been a hectic time for the Australian Estonian Media Project (AEMP) — most of our board have being travelling to Estonia and beyond. The chair Johanna did an internship with Global Estonian in Tallinn and since has accepted some work there; Founder, Tech and Marketing Lead Kristi Barrow, as well as Content Deputy Kristel Ala, also spent time in Estonia and Europe, where we could expand networks and discuss the needs of the Australian Estonian platform from a different perspective. The Marketing lead decided to return to Estonia for the foreseeable future, while the Governance lead has travelled through Asia and independently helped Estonian communities within rural Australia.

In August, the team primarily focused on branding of the Australian Estonian platform and questions surrounding incorporation — do we follow the stereotypical route of “where there’s three Estonians, there are five opinions” or can we figure something else out? We also continued discussions about collaboration with Estonian Societies around Australia, particular starting with Melbourne as a pilot partnership. In coming months, these themes will be continued, as well as selecting solutions to technical requirements, like which potential interfaces will allow for a sustainable and user friendly experience for Estonians in Australia.

The small and tight team continue efforts to aggregate and consolidate news relevant to Estonians in Australia, and we welcome anyone who believes in our mission to improve our national collaboration and communication. If you, our amazing reader, have some spare time and a desire to continue our mission — whether through helping us on social media, improving our email efforts, working on the website, or anything else — we warmly welcome you to get in touch: media@eesti.org.au

Our volunteers are vital to our existence. If we, or the vision of what we can become, is important to you, let’s talk.

Thank you for your faith and we look forward to the next update!

Tervitades, Johanna Rivers

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