Join me and former President of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga in an insightful conversation about what her childhood experience as an immigrant has taught her about handling times of crisis. Fleeing from her home country Latvia, Vaira and her family first went to Germany, then moved to Morocco and finally settled in Canada, where she obtained her PhD in Psychology. In 1999 she was drafted by the Latvian Parliament and elected to the office of President of Latvia. In 2003 she was re-elected for a second term. She played a key role in Latvia becoming an EU and NATO member.   Vaira believes the best thing to do ‘when things get hard, is to focus on the NOW and to plough on’. 

Times of crisis call for the willingness of personal sacrifice, overcoming loss without major outcry and to – not only believe – but also to participate in creating a better future. Democracy gives the people the right to vote. We are all free to cast a vote and with that vote express trust in the government and its leadership. However, as of late – especially in Europe – people have used the tool of ‘protests’ and ‘demonstrations’ potently a little lightly.   

 Making important decisions about how to deal with the Covid19 pandemic is a difficult balance between the unpredictable outcome for society’s health and safety, and the predictable economic detriment the lockdown has caused (and continues to do so for some time). Nothing is definite. Anything is probable. Decisions need to be made on a rational basis after considering a variety of probable outcomes. Especially governments, but also individuals and communities benefit from a strong sense of solidarity, cooperation, and empathy when dealing with any type of hardship.  

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More about Mrs. Vaira Vike-Freiberga

https://www.president.lv/en/president-of-latvia/former-presidents-of-latvia/vaira-vike-freiberga#gsc.tab=0 

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Road Trip by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud

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