International Adult Learners Week
in Europe

Network of Learning festivals

Marika Kreitsman, Learner of the Year 2004 of Järva County

My story began eight years ago, when my family and I moved from Tallinn to Ussisoo, Järvamaa. The first setback was that I couldn't find a job, although I went in and out of companies. The reason was sometimes tragicomic. As I had been working as a chief-accountant in Tallinn they told me that it wouldn't be appropriate to offer a lower position to me although I was ready to accept any job. My husband also came to work in Järvamaa and those were the hardest two years of my life, learning to support my family of five with minimal income. My husband went back to work in Tallinn and I got a job in Purdi Basic School as an economic manager. It seemed that life was back to normal again, but the school was closed down and once again I was unemployed. At first my former colleagues came to tell their problems to me, I comforted them as I could, but when they had got jobs again and I was still without one, I was under a lot of stress. Nobody listened to my worries, so I ended up putting on 15 kilos. Now I was big and unhappy. Finally I got a job in a local shop, but I could only work for a year because of health problems. I was unemployed again, sitting at home, feeling self-pity coming over me. I was thinking what to do. I hadn't been working as an accountant for years. All the laws were new, it would have meant starting everything new. Moreover, there were enough recent accountancy graduates where I lived.

I was considering my options, when my sons told me to do what I did best: cook. I began to enquire about cookery courses. Everything goes smoothly when it’s the right thing. I could register on the very last day before the start. I studied on the course in Särevere for three months. Learning had a positive effect on me, all these venturesome people around me. This is where I got the idea of starting my own company and trying to get startup capital from the Labour Market Board. In order to work as a caterer I had to get a driving licence.

So I went to study at a driving school, acquired necessary skills and got the licence. Now I work as a sole proprietor offering catering services. And there is a demand!

I participate in shorter courses each time I have a chance, where I improve my skills in cookery, compiling menus and offering services. I became known and familiar quite quickly fast among local people. People trust me and as a sign of that trust they elected me to be a village elder. I take part in trainings organised by the rural municipality and council. I have become an arranger of social life, who often has to support local people with my advice.

I'm glad that I've had the courage as an adult to make changes in my life and carried out my dream of a family venture, where my husband and sons have their roles both in work contribution and supporting each other. It is very important to be and act together. An ordinary story, like many people must have, but thanks to studying I have got a pleasant job near home and many contacts with interesting people.

 

Urve Merendi, Learner of the Year in Estonia in 2004

Iam the Learner of the year 2004 ... But I haven’t done anything special, haven’t got a Master’s degree, done scientific research or even graduated from the university!

I went to a university once, Tallinn Pedagogical University, but I quit in the middle of the fourth year. It’s not that I didn’t want to learn but the desire to get away from town to my home Hiiumaa was greater. Only many years later, after some years as a primary school teacher and several years of kindergarten work, I found that now it is time to start learning again - this time in the Pedagogical Seminar. It wasn’t an obligation forced from outside but a wish to try something else, to prove myself and feel that hollow excitement in my tummy when the morning of the examination has arrived. And of course to be with the others, communicate. I don’t remember being so much after knowledge then. It was just fun to be together in Räägu Street and study together. It was so good that I graduated with a "red diploma" (honours). Now looking back at all my studies I can say that I have always met people who are good to be with. And of course it was the teachers who could make learning attractive.

Times went by, big changes came: enterprises closed down, people were made redundant; until one day I found myself sitting on a rock by the sea, facing a big question mark: am I at the dead end? There was no more kindergarten, where I had worked as a manager, there was no need for me as a teacher because there were enough of them on our 1000 km2 island (with a population of 10,000). It was terribly hard to think and even harder to say it out loud that I was unemployed. And totally useless, so useless that I could have sat on that rock forever.

For people like me, who have lost their grounds, we have SA Tuuru in Hiiumaa, which helps you to find a sound place, where you can stop for a moment and look around. An extensive course in tourism management was about to begin in October and finish in April. I got a lot of encouragement to participate in that course. What was also important is that learning was financially supported by the Labour Market Board. The subject was new and entirely interesting for me.

At the end of the course I made a business plan about cycling tourism in Hiiumaa and, as it was accepted by the examination board, I submitted it to a business consultant, Aivar Pere. In fact he was the one who recommended it, promoted, supported and pushed it. I got the start-up money, registered myself as a sole proprietor, compiled package hiking tours and leaflets and in the first summer started with both cycling and hiking tours.

To qualify as a guide, I had to go to the guide’s training and pass the exam (now that was really tough!). Since my German had been quite good at school I took the exam in German and had courage to advertise myself as a foreign language- speaking guide. That paid for itself because I was immediately contacted by a German tour operator, I and T Reisen, with whom and Wilkinger Reisen, I co-operated for several years.

Soon it became clear that my knowledge of nature was a bit lacking. I have grown up in the country, trotting behind my grandfather in forests and bogs, but it wasn’t enough for a hiking instructor. Luckily, Suuremõisa Technical school was about to start with a two-year course in environmental protection and that was exactly what I needed. It was a little scary at first to submit my application. I have been living in this world for more than half of a century and now to go to school again... When I asked the director if I was allowed to attend school again, he told me it was the wish that mattered, not the age. I had that wish.

But learning is like a chain reaction: if you have already started, you can’t stop it. If you know something you are trusted new tasks over and over again. Now I have proposals to start bird and seal tourism, and my knowledge has helped to set up Neljateeristi nature trail in Kõpu.

I have just finished a course in accountancy and will put the skills to use in winter, when we don’t have tourists. I am the Learner of the Year 004. For me it is certainly the highest appreciation for what I have done. Thank you everyone who has been helping! There are still some things to achieve for me. At least two to three hills to conquer, maybe this year and if not, then the next... And again, who knows what may open behind these hills... Nevertheless, if I hadn’t had these jobs I have been trained for, I would have been under that rock.

It’s never late to learn. And it’s great fun!