Estonian Youth Abroad Introduced to Work Camp Format

This year, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a pilot project replacing the traditional language camp with work camps for Estonian youth living abroad. The program drew interest from Estonian communities worldwide, with the largest number of participants coming from Belgium. Applications also arrived from the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and several other countries. However, not all could take part because summer holidays start later in some countries, preventing some from arriving in Estonia at the beginning of the camp session.

Liina Viies, an advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained that in many European countries the school year ends significantly later than in Estonia. Some teenagers wanted to participate from the start but could not finish school early enough. She noted that Estonian students have an advantage with very long summer vacations, while in some countries classes continue even into the first weeks of July. Since this is the first pilot, the ministry is still trying to understand how much young people like this work format.

One participant, Anna, traveled all the way from hot Abu Dhabi to the Estonian summer. She said she had been looking for various work opportunities all summer, such as at a café or a family business, but employers were reluctant to hire someone for only three weeks. The work camp lasts two weeks and provided that chance. Anna highlighted the team games and the company as the best part, adding that they became best friends in just four days.

Thomas, another participant from Belgium, noted that work camps are more of an Estonian peculiarity – there is no such thing in Belgium, and he had to explain the concept to friends from the Netherlands. He also observed that Brussels is cheaper than Estonia, giving the example of bread costing two euros there versus sometimes four euros in Estonia.