Exhausted from the daily rush more than 10 years ago, Egija moved to Belfast in Northern Ireland. In her spare time, Egija and her friends were happy to explore the local culture and traditions. Life, as Egija says, was cool. But at the same time, when the children were born, Egija and her husband felt that children should grow up in Latvia and learn in Latvian schools. After reassessing their life priorities, Egija and her family returned to Latvia in the summer of 2018, the Smiltene municipality, where they have now found work while the children have started school and kindergarten.
Sniki family story about feelings of safety, comfort and accessibility while living in Latvia, in the municipality of Gulbene. The video reveals the true values of the family – quality time spent together doing sports, creating and maintaining traditions and maintaining close relationships with their loved ones – parents, grandparents and friends. There’s much wealth hidden in simplicity.
Lilita has returned to her hometown of Preili from Norway. She works in the beauty industry and teaches yoga classes to people in Preili.
The determined Lilija has returned to Rezekne to continue her studies here while working in the local café. Relatives and friends are worth all this.
Vineta has lived in England for 15 years. For two summers now, together with a friend from England, she travels to Latgale to enjoy nature and cultivate permaculture. Vineta organises workshops for foreigners on growing rural goodies every six months at her grandfather’s house.
My name is Janis. I returned from Ireland after 14 years. I’ve been back here, in my beloved Iecava, for six months. Well… I originally left alone, the family joined me. We all lived there, I worked. It was a good job but… but Latvia kept pulling me back. But we stayed and stayed… Two or three years ago I got depressed – I just really wanted to go back. A year ago, I first sent my wife and children back to Latvia, arranged spots in school for children. The children were learning, my wide stayed. That was an additional incentive to return sooner. So, I did.
Einars: – My name is Einars Vitols and I lived in England for five years.
Ieva: – My name is Ieva Muiznika. I returned from Swindon, England, just two months ago. I spent a year in Swindon, England. You could say that I went there to visit Einars. We have returned to Riga as we decided to look for opportunities in the capital. The only work I’ve done in England is working in a clothing store. I really liked it, there were really cool people there and the work was not too difficult. But still I wanted to go home so we set that as a goal and here we are.
Einars: – In any case, we had arranged everything before coming back, we both had been offered jobs. So, there were no problems. You could say that our jobs were already waiting for us here.
I think that support is really important. If, for example, I didn’t have someone to poke and prod me, I’d probably still be in England and, most likely, would have stayed there forever. Because… it really matters whether you have people who support you, who are there for you, who are read to help you. That’s really important. Then you feel that you are not alone. It’s hard to push yourself forward in life if you’re alone. It can be done, of course, but the motivation is a lot weaker. People next to you are the ones that provide really strong motivation.
I’m Lasma. I left Latvia in 2007 and lived in Melbourne, Australia for 11 years. I’ve only just returned to Latvia, to my hometown of Talsi this May. In Australia, I worked with seniors. I worked in the Melbourne Latvian village and was responsible for managing a variety of activities for them. That village was like my own Latvia, a place where people speak only Latvia, prepare Latvian dishes… And the people I met there, the stories they told me – that was an invaluable experience. Latvia is a wonderland, a holy land for them. There are many Latvians in Australia – there are some who have never been to Latvia and there are those who have gone and come back.
Who helped me with the return? Mostly my family and friends. I also got in touch with the Kurzeme regional coordinator – she helped me with the information I needed. She put together exactly what I needed. A bigger part of our cooperation was her answering all questions I had. I really didn’t know, too, what exactly I needed at the time.
After spending three years working in Moscow, Viktors Gallers has returned to Latgale and calls the recently purchased properties in Berkenele, Daugavpils municipality, home. Currently Viktors is an educational toy producer.
When planning our return home, we searched for information online on the remigration plan and support to people who want to make this serious choice. After finding information on regional remigration coordinators, I got in touch with Astrida Lescinska (Latgale).
Our cooperation with Latgale coordinator Astrida started thanks to the power of thought. We were planning on returning even before we heard of this remigration campaign. We intended to return to Latvia because of our child, because we wanted to bring him up in a Latvian environment, we wanted him to have close bonds with relatives and our own hearts longed for the loved ones left in our homeland.