The Stories of Diaspora Estonians on Vikerraadio

A new radio series, “Abroad and Home,” started in the beginning of October on Vikerraadio. According to author of the series, Ave-Marleen Rei, it was born out of the idea of overturning clichés pertaining to diaspora Estonians in Estonia. In each episode of the seven-part series, the listener is introduced to multiple generations of an Estonian family who have managed to keep their Estonian heritage alive in far-away Canada. “The idea for the series came largely from my personal interest in Canada and the Estonian communities that exist there. I don’t have any relatives that have made a home in Canada and so the communities there seemed all the more mystical to me,” the author of the series explains. 

Estonian Museum Canada VEMU helped find the families that participated in the series. “Each episode features three generations of one family. The first generation are those that escaped from Estonia. The second generation are the children of those who fled by boat and then their children. All of these families have preserved their Estonian identity throughout three generations. Interviews featured in the episodes are all in Estonian and all of the children spoke Estonian as well; the youngest that I spoke with was 16 years old,” says Rei. 

Rei visited Toronto in August 2024, but interviews were also conducted in Estonia. The series received support under the Global Estonian project and from the Department of Global Estonian and Cultural Diplomacy of the Republic of Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

You can listen to episodes via Estonian Public Broadcasting’s web portal jupiter.err.ee.