A letter to Sister Mary
Raissa Keskküla, Managing Director

Dear Sister Mary,
We first met at the Embassy of Finland in Tallinn, at the celebration of the PHARE/LIEN
cooperation project for associations of people with visual impairments. At the time You
already lived in Estonia and were working as an English teacher in the Old Town School (CER).
At that meeting You said you wanted to know what the learning opportunities were for
children with visual impairments and You asked a lot of questions from Olga and myself. And
since you really had a lot of questions, we decided to meet again.

We met several times and the procedure was almost always the same – You had a lot of
questions and we tried to answer them, shared our experiences. We also visited Linnupesa
Preschool where Olga had opened two groups for children with visual impairments. We had
already met three times when You said You wanted to meet again. I was confused and I told
Olga, our teacher of students with visual impairments – what more could we possibly explain,
we have given Sister Mary an exhaustive overview of everything that the Estonian Support
Union of the Deafblind does. What else is there to explain or share? But this time You did not
have any questions. This time You told us that you had decided to support Olga’s work. You
had been looking at what was being done in Estonia in terms of children with blindness and
visual impairments and you had chosen to support Olga because her work seemed to be very
professional and sustainable.

This is how we started to work together.
You tried to find supporters who could support us financially. Our support union provided
professional support and assistance to children with visual impairments and their families.
The Support Union had been organising courses for families of children who are blind or
visually impaired. The courses were meant for the whole families, we welcomed the parents
as well as grandparents and brothers and sisters. You said You were very happy with the
professional support and training that was provided at the courses. However, you were not
happy with the meals. The independence of the Republic of Estonia had recently been
restored and the means and resources were very limited. But You were firm – only the best
for the families! The teaching is important but the food must be good! And therefore, thanks
to Your help from that moment on we always had excellent food and the last day of the course always ended with a magnificent cake.

USA HILTON/PERKINS programme in Estonia
Sister Mary, You started our cooperation with the USA HILTON/PERKINS Programme. While
visiting the States You talked on a radio programme about the situation of children with
visual impairments in Estonia. Dennis Lolli, the Coordinator of the HILTON/PERKINS
Programme in Eastern Europe told us that it was You, Sister Mary, who managed to convince
them that they need to support Estonia. They had never thought of bringing their gigantic
programme into such a small country.

But they did, and they supported us for 18 years!

Together with You, Olga and I have organised an incredible amount of events, trainings
and meetings. We are very grateful for all those times, we will never forget it, we cherish
those times as a fond memory.

The Support Uninon of the Deafblind was created in 1994 by a group of parents. All these
years the Chairman of Board of the organisation has been a parent. Margarita Rägapart and
Heidi Rannik, the former and the current Chairman of Board look back at the times of
cooperation with gratitude. Margarita and Heidi send their most sincere wishes and thanks
and the warmest greetings on behalf of everybody in the Support Union.

Sister Mary!
Your heart is made of gold, and you have a century’s worth of wisdom and experiences.
You have done more than most people could ever dream and are such an inspiration us all!
Happy Centenary!
Estonian Support Union of the Deafblind