Feliks Vahtra, born in 1999, grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He lived the typical diaspora eestlase life of someone his age, attending Estonian-related events at the Eesti Maja in Chicago, and during the summers, attending Jõekääru Camp just north of Toronto. With his parents, he traveled to Eesti a couple of times, usually to take part in the big song festival called Laulupidu. He enjoyed these trips and spending time in Estonia. Vahtra said that after finishing school, he was not that keen on starting down the path of finding an office job in the US.
In Eesti Elu (yes, yes, shameless self-promotion for Eesti Elu) he read about an Estonian NGO named “Brotherhood of Adventurers” or in Estonian Seiklejate Vennaskond, for which one of their projects is to bring väliseestlased “back” to Estonia for two weeks and introduce them to the land of their ancestors. Many different Estonian towns, villages, and islands are visited. And the best part is, it was all 100% free. Vahtra did not even have to pay for the flight to Estonia. Vahtra took part in the program in June 2021, enjoyed his time in Estonia, and thought the other participants were cool.
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