Looking at our lives in the long term, not only in Latvia but also elsewhere in the world, we see people migrating from the countryside to towns, from towns to larger cities, and to other countries. It is human nature to constantly strive for a better, easier life. Even birds fly away from snowy winters to lands where there is more food and sunshine.

The closure of small rural schools is not just a source of shame for Latvia. It is happening in many parts of the world and reflects the poverty of rural residents and their relocation to other areas. If there are no pupils, the school cannot survive.

‘Rīdūži’ is one of Latvia’s closed rural schools, which began operating in 1898, but was closed in 1971, when the building was converted into flats and the pupils were offered an alternative – to study in Lizums.

Today, one of the flat owners in the old Rīdūži school is GarJānis – once a popular DJ and presenter on ‘Radiodejas’, ‘Super FM’ and ‘Eiropas Hitu Radio’, who later became a photographer and stand-up paddleboarding instructor.

GarJānis not only wants to save the building from ruin (when he bought his first flat there five years ago, the roof was leaking and the beams, walls and floor were crumbling), but also to create a museum of photographic equipment and a photography exhibition space within it.

“My work is progressing very slowly, as I’m working on my own and have so far only invested my own salary, but the work is progressing, and during the Lizuma parish festival I opened the doors to the first room for the first time, where visitors could view part of my camera collection. Next year I plan to open a second room as well, but there is still an incredible amount of work to be done, as the building has no running water, no toilet facilities and no heating,” says GarJānis.

One of GarJānis’s goals is to erect a monument at the end of the building, by the road, so that every pedestrian or cyclist can see it, to erect a memorial to the closed rural schools and name it ‘Lost Latvia’, thereby informing not only local residents but also tourists about the history of this building and drawing the attention of the government and the public to concerns regarding rural areas – infrastructure, jobs, the well-being of residents, education, and so on.

The monument is intended to depict an eight-year-old rural schoolgirl, dressed in a linen dress, with a headscarf and leather slippers, as seen in old photographs depicting pupils from this school.

A miniature model of the monument was presented to visitors at ‘Rīdūži’ during an open day on 8 August 2026, when the first 178 euros were donated towards its creation. The sculpture will cost 10,000 euros to create, with a further 5,000 euros required for the surrounding landscape, which is why this campaign has been launched to raise 15,000 euros, with the hope of realising the project as early as next year, in 2027.

Further information about the project can be found on the ‘Renesanse Rīdūžos’ Facebook page.