Every young person needs their own Egle

It all began with one warm message. Someone wrote to us about a person whose impact on a small community is far greater than any job title could ever capture.

Egle Pent is a youth worker at the Simuna youth centre — someone who listens, notices, and helps young people turn their ideas into something real. This is what was written to us about her:

“Every young person needs their own Egle.”

And the more we got to know her story, the better we understood why. Egle didn’t begin youth work believing she had all the answers. She began with a wish — to give the young people of her community more opportunities, more motivation and more belief in themselves. Ten years later, she is still at it.

One thought of hers stayed with us most of all:

“Not because I create something for young people, but because I can help young people create something for themselves and for their community.”

My road to becoming a youth worker

My road to youth work was never exactly ordinary. I actually trained as a kindergarten teacher, and by the end of ninth grade I was certain my calling would lead me straight to a kindergarten. Everything changed in the middle of my university studies, when a chance came up to apply for a youth worker’s post at the Simuna youth centre.

Honestly, at the start I knew almost nothing about youth work. But I carried an enormous wish to give the young people of my community more opportunities, more motivation and more belief in themselves. That inner fire became my greatest teacher. I began to grow on purpose — taking courses, going to meetings, learning something new every day.

Today I have been in youth work for ten years. Into that time has fit a tremendous amount of learning, laughter and tears, heartache, inspiring encounters, and countless projects I am still proud of.

The greatest magic of youth work is the young people themselves. In a small community they grow into your heart before you even notice. You rejoice in their successes and worry for them almost as much as their own parents do. Their honesty, openness and trust remind me every single day why this work is worth doing.

Over the years I have come to understand that one of the most important skills in youth work is listening. For me, almost every bigger project began with a chance conversation or a thought noticed in passing. My role has been to gather those small pieces, help young people put their ideas into words, and create the conditions for those ideas to truly come to life.

In a young person’s own words

One young person summed up Egle’s work more beautifully than we ever could:

“Every person who comes to the youth centre feeling sad always leaves with a smile because of you. We are all so grateful that you exist. You are the one we can tell our worries to, and you keep our secrets. You support us, and we support you!”

How it all began

It all started with a message from a member of Egle’s community:

“In our small community in Simuna, Lääne-Viru County, there is one irreplaceable person — Egle Pent. She is a youth worker who is there for children and young people in every way: supporting, advising, and creating a homely, safe feeling at the youth centre. There is a reason she was named youth worker of the year, and in 2025 also mother of the year in Väike-Maarja parish. I would love to see her recognised, because she is so often the quiet force who lifts others up.”

Egle’s story reminded us that the greatest impact is not always born of grand words or dazzling deeds. Often it grows from steady presence, from truly listening, and from taking someone’s idea seriously enough to help it grow.

Egle, we wish you strength, joy and people who notice and hold you just as sincerely as you hold the young people around you.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for noticing. Thank you for believing in young people.

Do you know someone like this?

Is there a teacher, a coach, a youth worker, a volunteer or someone else in your community whose story deserves more attention? Tell us — a good story sometimes needs only one person to notice it and pass it on.