About the history of the project Naatsaku

About the history of the project Naatsaku

In the end of World War II the mother of my wife fled with her husband from Estonia to the west and left her mother there. After the war the old woman, who had managed the farm for about 30 years, had been displaced to Sibiria by Stalin and there she died in a labor camp. In 1991 during summer holidays our family went to Estonia

and we actually found the old farm.

the cowshed

the chicken house

Emil with my wife in front of his home

and his kitchen...

In 1996 my wife got back the totally neglected farm.

With many friends we started to rebuild it.

Many people heard of our project and made the long trip to Estonia to help us.

the cowshed again

the cowshed in the autumn of the next year

After five years of improvisation

we needed a regular workshop

the workshop today

We can produce nearly everything that is usually made out of wood.

But at first we have to get the wood out of the forest somehow.

Naatsaku in the late afternoon, surrounded by its fields and forests

Since 1999 we got immense support by regular volunteers, so the pupils, who needed and wanted some distance to their homes, could stay for longer terms at least they stayed for six months, mostly for a whole year.

Often there are only boys to live with us but my wife is well prepared to it by our three sons.

Sometimes I try to be an open air teacher but that isn t easy, when there is such an attractive competitor.

In total we have to feed 9 stoves in the different houses, so we have to make a lot of firewood

Winter can be rather strong.

In 2001 the farm had been registrated as an ecological/biological farm by the state. We try to do as much work as possible with the horse.

Nelli had just got her calf. Our cows have no horns. They are of a special old Estonian breed.

NAATSAKU NOORTETALU JUGENDHOF NAATSAKU ESTLAND YOUTH FARM NAATSAKU ESTONIA Bilder und Sprüche Aspekte zum Konzept Pictures and Sayings Aspects to the Concept

Arbeit ist für uns der einzige Weg vom Traum zur Wirklichkeit. Labor for us is the only way to get from dream to reality. Simone Weil Gott achtet mich, wenn ich arbeite. God respects me, when I work. (aber/but )

Gott liebt mich, wenn ich singe. God loves me, when I sing. Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore)

Der Mensch wird am Du zum Ich. Meeting the other one becomes oneself. Martin Buber Einem Menschen begegnen heißt, von seinen Rätseln wach gehalten zu werden. To meet a man means to be kept awake by his mystery. Emmanuel Lévinas

Wir können dem Wind nichts befehlen, aber wir können die Segel setzen. We cannot command the wind, but we can set the sails.

David together with our son Martin.

and together with Miko

Distanz zum Gewohnten ist manchmal eine gute Sache. Distance to the life we are accustomed to, sometimes is a good thing.

but perhaps not always

Denn, um es endlich auf einmal herauszusagen, der Mensch spielt nur, wo er in voller Bedeutung des Wortes Mensch ist, und er ist nur da ganz Mensch, wo er spielt. For, to say it finally, man is playing only when he is a human being in its total sense, and he is a human being only, when he is playing. Friedrich Schiller

Wie wenig Lärm machen die wirklichen Wunder. How little noise real miracles cause. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Jeder Mensch will notwendig sein. Each human being wants to be necessary. E. Seyfried