The Might of Viru

You do not have to go to France to visit Paris. Every place has its own story and and every story has its own place. Our stories connect us together. Our sense of home is based on our stories.

With these thoughts we set about creating a format for a course called Viru Power. The idea for such a course was not born in our heads, but we got inspiration for it from the “Saare idenditeet” course of Saaremaa Gymnasium. Estonia’s extremely diverse natural background has also shaped a society with a heterogeneous socio-economic structure and cultural identity. We are perhaps most used to noticing the different folk costumes of parishes running along natural borders. But the differences between regions are more manifold. Regional peculiarities are not for opposition, but they make us stronger as Estonians.

In the framework of the Viru Power course, with the help of different presenters, students got acquainted with the natural background of Virumaa, the history of the society that developed here, the centuries-long traces woven into the cultural landscapes shaped by human activity and nature together, the stories of young people carrying forward contemporary culture, the charms of urban and rural communities, the possible future scenarios of changes in local nature and the opportunities in economic activity. After each meeting, students supplemented their Virumaa map story on the basis of the stories they heard. Students who expressed a wish prepared their class’s väelaul and others created the class’s väetants. To carry on the handicraft traditions here, some students wove their Virumaa stories into the patterns of a saanitekk. All this power, recorded by the students in their map stories, was reviewed in the students’ stories on the final excursions. Their class’s väelaul and -tants and the sleigh blanket were presented by the students to the community at the end-of-school-year ceremony.

It is completely natural that at gymnasium age young people feel like away from here. But having made a round in the world, acquired education and gained new experiences, they should be able to find the way back to Virumaa to build their home here. And whether they are in Patagonia or Pärnu, New Zealand or on Suur-Ameerika street, when the call comes, they would feel that this place is worth protecting.