SOS Children in Estonia
Following the break up of the Soviet Union in 1990, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regained their sovereignty. Estonia, the smallest and most northerly of the three, although geographically a Baltic state is closer to its neighbour Finland (only 100 km across the Baltic Sea) in terms of culture and language than to Lithuania and Latvia.
Estonia is considered to be the most successful of the former Soviet republics in economic terms, but it still has immense social problems in spite of relatively low unemployment, considerable foreign investment and a stable political situation. The cost of living is high and increasing and the education and social welfare system are both underfunded and under developed. Alcoholism is a widespread problem and the number of abandoned children is increasing.
SOS Children entered in Estonia opened in 1994 in the small town of Keila, about 30 km south-west of the capital, Tallinn. The twelve family houses are built in the traditional Estonian style in brick and timber and are home to around 80 children and their SOS mothers. The community is well integrated into its surroundings in a mainly residential area, with schools and medical facilities within easy reach. A nursey and primary school were built in 1995, both of which take in children and pupils from the local community as well as from the SOS Children.
The charity has opened two other houses where teenagers and older children can live while taking their first guided steps towards independence, one in Keila and one in Tallinn.
For more information on the work we do in Estonia, see our page on Estonian Orphans.
Local Contacts
SOS Children in Estonia
SOS Lasteküla Eesti Ühing, Haigru 8, 10615 Tallinn, Estonia
tel +372/6 56 6958 e-mail office@sos-lastekyla.ee
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