Mrs. Helle Meri opened the SOS Youth Home at Keila at noon today. Helle Meri, who is the patron of the SOS Children's Village of Estonia, said that as she is currently furnishing her own home, she can not yet quite imagine the cosy feeling of the inhabitants of the Youth Home who moved into their own home already in September.

As Mrs. Meri said, a home is a starting point on the way to independent life. Wishing the young people at the Youth Home both spiritual and physical strength, Mrs. Meri gave them two presents – ''Dictionary of the Estonian Language'', which was published recently this year, on the year of the Estonian language purification, to keep their spirit keen; and a treadmill and a fitness bike to keep them busy on cold and rainy days. ''I hope you will use my presents every day,'' Mrs. Helle Meri said, and stressed that the young people should not forget the purity of their mother tongue in the ardour of learning foreign languages.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, October 22, 1999

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