The winner was announced and the award was presented on Saturday, 6th May at the Large Family Day in Tallinn Zoo, organized by the Estonian Large Families Association, where more than 1,000 participants from all over Estonia gathered together.
A total of 85 families with four or more children from all over Estonia applied for the Large Family of the Year competition, which was organized for the 14th time. According to the president of the association, Aage Õunap, choosing the winner is difficult every year.
“This year’s large family can be characterized by the following keywords – hard work, dedication and youthful enthusiasm. The story of their large family, borne of love, confirms that children are not an obstacle, but a source of new energy and power to make their personal dreams come true,” Õunap described the winning family.
The Family of the Year 2023 lives in the village of Vasula in Tartu County, where mother Britt Kalam and father Kristjan Kalam raise four children: Maria (6), Markus (4), Mattias (3) and Marten (1). Both the mother and father have a background in natural sciences and a research degree from the University of Tartu, or as they say, “a belief in education and research”. The father works as a researcher and lecturer, the mother currently works as an analyst for a fintech company in a home office next to the youngest in the family, and with the desire for self-improvement is studying plant breeding at the Olustvere School of Service and Rural Management.
Congratulations to the Kalam family!
