After 15 Years in England, Marta Gabrusāne Starts a New Life with Her Children in the Family Home
After 15 years in England, Marta Gabrusāne is starting a new life with her children in her family's home in the Latvian countryside. Other young people are also choosing to settle in rural Latgale.
Rural depopulation remains a strong trend in Latvia, and remote regions are losing residents. Even so, some people deliberately go the other way, returning to the countryside or starting a life there. One of them is Marta Gabrusāne, who after 15 years in England is starting a new life with her children in her family's home.
Stories like hers are at the heart of the third season of the podcast "Es izvēlos dzīvi laukos" ("I Choose Life in the Countryside"), produced by the Latgale editorial team of LSM, Latvia's public media organisation. The season has five episodes, and its main characters are young people who have travelled to nearer and more distant countries. They are now building their lives and work in the Latgale countryside.
Why the countryside
The reasons differ from person to person. The podcast mentions a longing for freedom, quiet and peace, and sentiment for an ancestral heritage. For some, growing their own food matters, while others are drawn by the potential for business opportunities.
These stories show that, even as rural areas empty out, there are people who choose Latgale as home after living abroad or travelling widely. The source gives no further details on how Gabrusāne's family is settling into its new home.
