On Monday, 1st February 2021, Juss Särekanno, the new assistant, started work at the Human Rights Centre. We gave him a few days to get used to his new role and then asked him how he’s been doing so far and how he ended up working at the centre.
“Although everyone has settled into their cosy home offices, it seems that they do visit the actual office every now and then too, and I think I have actually managed to meet all the staff face to face during my first week. The welcome has been warm and my first working days have been relaxed. I’ll gladly come to work next week too,” he said, describing his first impressions. We are glad to confirm that Juss did return to work for his second week.☺️
Juss was already familiar with the work and activities of the centre. “I knew that the centre watches for where we, as a country, fail to meet the standards, regardless of whether it happened on purpose or accidentally.” When we asked him why he decided to contribute to the cause himself, it turned out that values were the main reason. “I guess it’s typical for my generation, but I tend to be values-based in choosing my work and other activities, and I think that I can go to bed with a clear conscience, knowing that I’ve helped stand for human rights in a small way.”
Live and let live
Juss says that he doesn’t consider himself to be a vigorous activist or someone who would stand in the front line at protests. “It’s in my nature to be peaceful and I try to go by the motto “Live and let live.” I think that human rights fit this motto. We are all a bit different, but we have to coexist in this world without hurting each other. As is typical these days, I tend to express my thoughts on social media, and even though sometimes I feel that not everyone should be saying what they think, occasionally a friend or an acquaintance thanks me and tells me that they’ve changed their mind about something because of what I said. Perhaps that is also protecting human rights, in a way?” We think it is!
In his new role, Juss hopes to gain new experience, skills, connections, thoughts and ideas, as well as interesting conversations. “I’ve worked in the private sector for a long time and now I’d like to see the world through the lens of an NGO. I like to help out and I like being useful. This is also what I think when I supervise my equestrian students in the evenings,” Juss, who’s been a riding instructor for 10 years, said.
Welcome to the team, Juss! 🥰
Since you are here...
It is important to protect everyone’s human rights, because it helps to keep stability and peace in the society. There are many challenges for protection of human rights in Estonia: intolerance has really come out of the closet. Bad things happen when good people are too passive, but together we can make a change.
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