“Right by my side” was a Training Course
that happened in Montecatini-Terme, Italy, from 14 to 21 of October of 2019; it
was created by the Italian organization “Invasioni Creative”.
Although I made some mobility programs of
Erasmus plus before: two Youth Exchanges and a long term EVS, this was the
first time I made a Training Course.
In the project were involved 3 participants
from 6 countries: Italy, Latvia, Greece, Check Republic, Spain and Portugal. All the
Portuguese participants came from the same town, from where our sending
organization Associação Inspira! is
based.
The main topic of the Training Course was “Disabilities” and some of the main
objectives of the course were:
-Increase awareness of
disability issues;
-To empower selected
youth/social workers by training them in using non formal education methods
based on art as a mean to engage youth with different abilities in society;
-To provide youth workers with knowledge skills and practical experience on working with youngsters with
disabilities.
-To create a network of youth
workers who are able to develop activities accessible to people with
disabilities;
-To identify and remove barriers
to active participation of youngsters with disability in the life of their community;
-To identify new Tools and
methods that best match the needs of youngsters with fewer opportunities:
-To promote transnational
partnership between NGO’s active in the youth sector;
-To increase participation of
youth with disabilities to non-formal education activities.
Because this Training is an Erasmus Plus
project, it means that the methodology was based in a non-formal methodology (energizers, team-building, role plays,
simulations, brainstorming, etc.)
In NON-FORMAL EDUCATION the
participants reflect in their own competence and make their evaluation.
Knowledge
+ Skills + Attitudes -->COMPETENCE
Describing some Topics and activities we
made:
We
started to read some definitions of “disability” according to different models;
without knowing at first which model was, we made reactions to it. The majority
of us had better reaction to WHO
definition, Social Adapted Model and Social
Model. The Economic Model, Charity Model, Moral Model and Medical Model
received bad reactions (as it seems that is not a nice way to look at
disability)
Then we went
deep in founding Information on Disability by understanding what means
Communication Disorders, Physical Disabilities, Hearing Impairments, Vision
Impairments, Braille Alphabet, Learning Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities
and Autism.
Through all the
room were papers explaining what consist a certain type of disability. After
reading it we had a group task for each disability.
We also
got the chance to meet an art organization that works with disable people in
the city of Prato, being the organization’s name: “Arcantarte”. They told us
that Clay is an amazing material for lots of people with disability, because it
can be felt with the hands, it can be smelt, easily shaped and usually they
love it. We made one basic peace normally but the second one we made it
blindfolded to ignore the sight sense and being able to feel better with our
hands.
In
the project we agreed between every participant in making 10 + 1
KEY
POINTS OF WORKING WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
-Good plan and clear aims
-Be respectful
-Be patient, empathetic and
understanding
-Be without prejudice,
open-minded, positive
-One step at a time
-Be responsible
-Be passionately involved
-Do things that are suitable
-Use mindfulness
-Make people contribute to the
World.
Not only we learnt a lot about disabilities
but also learned HOW we should design activities taking in consideration
the 5 STAGES of the Group Dynamics of Tuckman’s Model:
1 –
FORMING THE GROUP
with introduction, icebreaking
2-
STORMING
It’s when the first conflicts arise. When
we, somehow, need to give up our individuality to work as a group.
3 –
NORMING
When group is really made and works start
flowing.
4-
PERFORMING
It’s when members are confident, motivated
and familiar enough with the project and their team that they can operate
without supervision. Everyone is on the same page and driving full-speed ahead
towards the final goal.
5-
ADJOURNING
Once
the project ends, the team disbands. These phases are sometimes known as
mourning because members have grown close and feel a loss now that the
experience is over.
TO RUN AND CREATE AN ACTIVITY we need to know:
WHO are our target and their needs
WHY is the activity existing? What are the aims and objectives?
WHEN is the right time to make the activity?
WHERE the activity takes place?
WHAT materials do I need to make this activity?
HOW
MANY people I need for the activity?
HOW do I structure and make this activity? (structure and instructions)
AND
IF… I run into any problems with my activity? (risk
management)
The
group I've been with decided to create the ZIG ZAG CIRCLE ACTIVITY that is
based on trust, it’s when a person fall back and need to trust in others. Energizer and big part of the time of all the activity the participants were
blindfolded, because our aim was to create the activity for people with a
visual impairment.
Because Non Formal learning involves
self-evaluation, the participants always make an evaluation of what they
learned, not the facilitators. Feedbacks are also good for that. We used the “Sandwich
Method”, more used in spoken world, but also learned other method in which in
Latvia are something called “Pipipi Method”
Sandwich method is based on the layers
Positive, Negative, Positive, by this order.
The so called “Pipipi method” is:
1 – Saying something very positive
2 – Ask a question about presentation
3 – What you would like to change?
Of Course we learnt a lot in almost one
week, here only come a brief Idea about what we learnt.
We
developed a Toolkit about the project, all by hand, because we didn’t have
computers neither time, so we used all the material we had at our disposable
and resulted in something like this:
Personal comment about the project:
It was my first
Training Course, I was more familiar with Youth Exchanges, which in my opinion
are more dynamic. Training Course is to get deeper in a topic and it is not only
for youth, but also for people older than 30 years old as long as they are very
interested on it and it can be used in their profession. In this project we had
presence of two teachers, for me was a surprise because I didn’t know that,
actually, there is no age restriction in Training Courses.
The organization
of the project was great; I enjoyed all the activities, it was very complete, I
only missed more energizers and maybe doing them outdoors, because we spent all
the time inside the room, apart for the trip to Prato. The thematic was (still
be) very interesting and important. I have chosen to go to this project to
learn about disabilities and learn tools for later, in case of need, using them
when dealing with people who have special needs. I really enjoyed the
experience.
(This article is about my life in Finland during one year, but is also talking
about Finnish culture and Society; I will not mention all things but some that
come to my mind.)
In August of 2018 I moved to Ylivieska
(Finland). I had the chance of making an European Voluntary Service (European
Solidarity Corps) in that town or in Stockholm (Sweden), but I decided to
embrace Ylivieska. Why? Because I wanted to be in the countryside, scape from
big cities - that’s the true. I wanted to find some peacefulness, be more
immersed into Nature and having more quality of life. I knew Finland has big
treasures that wanted to find out by myself.
I always wanted to live for an extended
period in the Nordic countries, being the ones of my preference Sweden and
Finland. Sweden maybe because of my favourite band (Opeth) and one of my favourite
movie director (Ingmar Bergman) being Swedish, but I knew nothing about Swedish
culture. I was interested in Finland because of its folklore, language, Nature
and music culture (Jean Sibelius, Apocalyptica) and its big Heavy Metal culture
\m/
I am a big fan of J. R. R. Tolkien and always knew that he was inspired in
Finnish Folklore (such as the Epic Finnish Oral Poetry “Kalevala”), the Elfish
language was somehow inspired in Finnish language; I knew that Finland has the
best Education System in the World and Finnish People respect a lot private
space and hate small talk - like I do.
;)
Somehow Finland was a destination that, for me, would be difficult to reach
especially if I wanted to live there for a while. It never crossed my mind
coming to that country neither as tourist, student or worker. Having the
opportunity to live in central Finland for one year looked perfect! I really
wanted to be immersed into Nature and in Finnish culture as well discover the country;
being centralized would allow me to travel North and South with more
facility.Anyway, Finland borders
Sweden, Norway,Russia and it is
relatively close to Estonia -if I
wanted to travel to those countries would be easy since there are connections,
some with more sustainable options such as train or boat (there are flights as
well, but is not a good environmental option, something to avoid).
WHAT IS EVS/ESC?
EVS (European Voluntary Service, now ESC (European Solidarity Corps) is a
project financed by European Union, previously was part of Erasmus plus (E+), and promotes working in other country as
volunteer (non-professional job) for young people from 18 to 30 years old. It
covers the travelling cost from the volunteer hometown to the place of the project and vice-versa (the travelling budget is calculated by the travel distance),
provides the basic course of the language of the new culture (in my case I had Finnish lessons because I lived in a Spoken Finnish Region), gives accommodation (no need to find for a home, to pay for it and for the expenses!), Food Money (for Food) and Pocket Money (for "wasting" as we like) not much, but for me was enough to travel during my
vacations : )
If I hadn’t this opportunity, most probably
I wouldn’t discover Finland so early. It was great. ^_^ In my case I could put
into practise my knowledge in videography, photography, cinema and
develop graphic design skills, while I could develop portfolio. As many of
other volunteers do, I was working also in a Youth House, but most of my time
there I gave some help, tried to interact with kids, made some photo workshops
to them and created a movie club. For me wasn’t a full time job there, since I
had more office work.
EVS/ESC program it’s great to live and explore
other culture, meet natives, expand horizons, get out of comfort zone, meet
other EVS/ESC volunteers (because who does this project will meet lots of other EVS/ESC volunteers around the same country! – we have meetings during EVS/ESC trainings) and the best
thing is that you don’t need to pay for this program : )
In the end everybody develops lots of skills and qualities; one example is
learning a new language and improve English to the most! : ) During all the time lot of Soft Skills are developed. In the end a big percentage of the Volunteers become more active citizens, are aware of European Issues, are more open-minded and so on. Usually this programs main works are with Young people, disable people, refugees, NGO, etc. In my case I was working in a Youth House, so I was working with Youth and helping local Youth Organizations with video and media.
Quik note about this Volunteer program: It can be Short or can be Long Term. Short is from 14 days until 2 months. Long Term is from 2 months up to 12 months. It is possible to make more than one Volunteering if First you make a Short Term and then a Long Term, but the opposite is not possible (I am not sure how many short-terms are possible to be made). Volunteering Abroad is a learning process, during that time of Volunteering lots of new Skills are discovered and or perfected. During the process you make a reflection on your learning outcomes and you need to write them down for your final avaluation: the YouthPass. The YouthPass is a credited certificate by European Union, nowadays very valuable. You can add to your CV.
During Volunteering are 8 main competences that are explicit on YouthPass as Key Competences. The evaluation is the reflection in what you have learnt.
The revised Key Competences are:
Multilingual competence
Personal, social and learning to learn competence
Citizenship competence
Entrepreneurship competence
Cultural awareness and expression competence
Digital competence
Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering
Literacy competence
THE OTHER EVS FRIENDS
Some weeks after I come to Finland, as well
lots or recent volunteers in Finland, we had the On-Arrival Training in Villa
Elba (Kokkola, Finland). The training took some days. We made lots of
activities to get to know each other, but mainly we were discussing about EVS
program and its importance specially for a Democratic Europe; we had lots of fun
and shared cultural experiences.
We could know where anybody lived in Finland
and it was great to make a later visit. : )
In the middle of our Project we saw each other again in Sopukka (Sipoo, near Helsinki)
during the Mid-term training, which was more chilled because was basically a
break from work and to meet again our friends :)
I have a Serie of videos I made during my period in Finland with the name of "A PORTUGUESE IN FINLAND - EVS VLOG" feel free to watch on my youtube channel! Every year there's the Volunteer Awards in which European Volunteers are asked to make a short video up to 1 minuto about their experience of EVS/ESC in order to inspire others to embrace in this adventure as well (it's not mandatory to do the video, but I decided to apply). So here is my video:
My Finntastic EVS
FINLAND AND ITS CULTURE
Finland is a Nordic country connected with
Scandinavia, together forms the
Fennoscandian Peninsula. (“The similar term Fenno-Scandinavia typically
refers to a cultural or political grouping of Finland with Scandinavia
(Denmark, Sweden and Norway), which is a subset of the Nordic countries”. Font:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennoscandia
)
FOREST
In Finland
around 70 % is Forest. There people can camp, walk, pick berries, mushrooms,
make bbq freely, because in Finland it’s a Human Right. In the Nature it’s
possible to see lots of animals: deers, moose, owls, ravens, in some cases
bears, among others. Forest area in Finland is larger than UK or Italy!
Forest is managed sustainably and it’s very important, as well, in the
culture.
So many trees make the air more pure, being the Air from outdoors the cleanest
in the world.
LAKES
Finland It is known as "The land of Thousand Lakes" it has 188 000 lakes to be precise.
Which is a natural and free swimming pool to everybody, any time of the
year,yes, including winter which is
super amazing to Swim in a frozen lake after Sauna <3
SAUNA
It’s super important in Finland.Sauna Culture is stronger in Finland than in
other place in the world. It is, literally, part of the culture, practised in
every family.
Almost every house has a sauna, sport centres have sauna, some Festivals and
Restaurants have sauna, yes :D It can be made during any time of the year, but
it’s very common to do it during winter, because it’s good to prevent cold and
keep people warm.
Usually people make sauna naked and during winter is super amazing to go ice-swimming after sauna
and come back again : )
Nudity is a normal thing seen with respect.
CLIMATE
midnight sun in Sodankylä
Temperatures can reach -30ºC in the North, but usually is dry cold so it’s not that unbearable if using the proper clothes and if you move. Sauna helps in keeping the body warm for long time. Winter is very dark, Sun cannot rise at all in the North being 6 months of darkness (6 a.m, 12 a.m, 15 pm, 20 p.m will look the same – ALL BLACK), The South of Finland can have some hours of light, but Sun usually don’t shine, it’s very darksome and shy.
During Summer the Nights are eternal mornings, ‘cos the Sun will be in the Sky every hour. The Norther the brighter, so in Lapland at 1.a.m it’s possible to see the Sun shining and it keeps shinning 24 hours a day. In the South and Central Finland the Sun is not shining at 1 .m but the nights are super bright (maximum of “darkness” will be less than 3 hours) : ) At 3 a.m. sun can start shine : )
In Summer the Normal temperatures should not reach more than 22ºC, but because of Global Warming temperatures can reach 28ºC or more! I experienced 31ºC and got burned :o Temperatures like this are almost the temperature as South Europe! Which is not normal at all :’(
During summer be aware of the annoying mosquitos that will be everywhere!
LANGUAGE
I learnt basic Finnish but unfortunately I didn’t practise that much. Most important word is “NO NIIN!” which is used every time for lots of reasons eheh. :D Finnish language is a specific language which grammar and words are very peculiar and far from what most people know : ) A very close language and culture to Finland is Estonia. Those languages are considered one of the most difficult languages in the world. Both belong to Finno-Ugric Language.
Some words in Finnish came from Swedish or Russian; the most recent ones also from English. Some can be very similar or totally altered once Finnish people has difficulties in saying some letters, in this way they made it simpler to them. Most of Finnish people, for letters such as “G”, will automatically say “K”, for example: Hug comes Huk, because is not used in their language that often and it’s hard. “hard G”
It may cause you confusion, but most places in Finland have two names: in Finnish and Swedish! Because Swedish is also an official language in Finland! For Helsinki you may read as well “Helsingfors”, in Tampere (Tamperfors), but other places will change dramatically such as Turku (Åbo). Turku used to be the second capital of Sweden when Finland was dominated by Swedes. Swedish is mainly spoken in the South of Finland, especially near the coast. Some places speak only Finnish or only Swedish or both!
LIFE
The quality of live for me is really good, even in big cities there is less stress in relation with other countries.
Women and Men are seen as Equal, usually Woman assume leading role. In fact in Finnish language there is no difference between She and He, all people are treated equally. She and He is HAN. There is no gender in Finnish language.
Usually it is a very secure country to be and walk alone; children go alone to school; everybody that since start walking until elder stage rides the bike. Parents ride theirs children and babies on the bike (in special compartments). There is special road, everywhere in the country, just for bikes and people! They are never mixed with cars and usually cars always stop to let you come through. They may see somebody very far but they wait and stop to bikes and pedestrians cross.
FOOD
Finland has good oat quality which they use for porridge, bread, oat milk and oat yogurts. There are plenty of berries that can be picked on the forest for free – other good thing is that in Finland there is no contamination in the forests which is possible to eat directly the berries without being washed.
Main food is based on Potatoes and some meat or fish (meat and fish are super expensive in Nordic Countries) and lots of cow milk. Meanwhile, I consider Finland a vegan friendly country, is not difficult to be vegan or vegetarian (and it can be much cheaper)
Makarra (Sausages) is very common when Finnish people make a fire in the Forest.
Tap Water usually is super good almost everywhere. It’s simply delicious! Helsinki has some of the cleanest tap water of all big cities in the world.
During Summer Ice creams are very popular!
Finnish people are fan of liquorice things. Most of people like “salmiaki” which is ammoniun chloride – it’s a thing that you either love or hate! :’D
Karl Fazer chocolates are highly delicious!
Coffee in Finland can be found in cafés, bars, any working place, people’s houses, supermarkets, even inside some random store :D Finnish coffee is American coffee. Finnish People are the Top World Coffee Consumers.
The main Bread in Finland, the “Finnish Bread”, is a dry one. It’s a kind of bread that has no preservatives and it can last for months without getting bad. It's an ancient receipt that preserves bread for months without any additive!
Pulla is a delicious desert that I recommend you to try : )
Finnish dry bread :)
Traveling throught Finland and to nearby countries
I was lucky to live in a place where train passes every hour to Helsinki, Oulu or Rovaniemi (where the Santa Claus Village is located, in Lapland); so when I wanted to travel I used always train. Even if I wanted to have bus I couldn’t unless I moved to other city and get it from there. Trains in Finland must be booked one month prior to get cheaper price. In Central and South Finland for some places it’s easy to find very cheap buses that can cost 1 € or little more (but will take all f***ing day). From Finland to Stockholm (Sweden) it’s possible to get Ferri from Helsinki or Turku /Åbo but I truly recommend to do it from Turku or To Turku because it’s much cheaper and you may see beautiful small Finnish islands in the sea. Turku is a nice city anyway. To visit Estonia is possible to get Ferri from Helsinki; to visit St. Petersburg (Russia) is possible get Ferri (without visa for 3 days and the trip takes 12 hours) or go by train (it takes 3h30) but in that case you need Visa. There is also Train to Moscow (but need Visa, of course). If you want to visit Russia I recommend spending as much time as you can! Maybe I will make one post later about it!
Of course there are airports (almost everywhere) but try to avoid it because we need to protect our world ;)
A view from the Sea Route from Turku (Finland) to Stockholm (Sweden) by Ferri
OTHER THINGS ABOUT FINLAND
-Finnish people are the Top
world coffee consumers; It’s one of the safest
countries in the world!
-Finnish people love Winter
Sports
-It’s very easy, safe and common
to bike in Finland and is the main transport for lots of people.
-It has
more than one official language: 5% of Population speaks Swedish; in Lapland
there are the Sámi people whom they speak their own language.
-Every town/city has Youth
Houses for Children and Youngsters.
-Most every town/city has a
Traffic Parks for children.There they
apply the driving rules while get some fun.
-NOKIA is Finnish and it’s a
name of a town.
-Midsummer is very important to
Finns and they usually spend it outside with friends and family as well in
Cottages in the Forest.
-Plastic bottles and cans are recycled
in supermarkets; every can has a return price.
-Alchool is not sold in
supermarkets, only in Alko store.
-Good education, social
security, health services and working conditions.
-They always take the shoes when
go inside home (for hygienic and respect reasons)
-During winter the Sea, Rivers
and Lakes froze, being possible to walk or drive on it!
-Wooden houses are super common,
especially in countryside.- Finland is a nice spot to observe Northern Lights! Enormous probabilities in the North (Lapland), good probability in some places in Central Finland, not great in the South unless it is quite strong and if there’s few light pollution. (I was able to see at least 3 times in the town I lived <3) Almost all cities have Second hand shops.
-Angry Birds and The MOOMINS
were created in Finland ( Everybody loves
Moomins! Children, youngsters, adults, women and men! There is the Moomin Museum in Tampere and the Moomin World in Turku)
me in moomin museum
-Of course there are bad things:
-Big Alchool problems, lots of
drunken people everywhere any time of the day! Usually they are not
problematic, I mean, they don’t have aggressive behaviour, they just become potatoes
or incredible annoying.
-Big social problems, can be
very very shy (some drink to “overcome” that problem, which in fact make them
more social, and most of the time annoying :/) Windows. I think they are a big problem because usually are super small and doesn't open that much. Air indoors are usually bad because of that, but in other hand, air indoors is clean because of the Forest. I
-Being quiet is not a problem,
ok? It’s part of culture and Finnish character. Please, take in consideration
it’s a different culture which doesn’t like small talk. Silence and private
space is a must in Finland! (I just wrote here because I know lots of people will complain about it – and see
this as a “problem”)
The smaller window, only opens 5 cm maximum
CURIOUS? WANT TO VISIT?
I lived one full year in Finland and cannot
imagine the idea of traveling like a tourist to Finland or other country, is
not really my thing. In case you want to visit Finland you should do good
Finnish things and also meet some nice Finnish people to guide you and talk and
help you explore the culture, that’s my sincere opinion. If you just visit Helsinki, I
would say it can be disappointing. But all depends what you want to do and how
much time you have.
Finland is not like other countries; you may feel disappointed to see that
Helsinki (capital) is not that “interesting”, but all depends what you want to
do or see, and of couse, what you understand as "interesting". Helsinki is great for Rock and Metal concerts! For art is kind of
good. There is nice design of buildings. One nice thing I recommend to visit in
Helsinki is Oodi Library because is not a normal library, it's more a
multifunction centre with an eccentric architecture. There you can have nice
views, have coffee (there are two cafeterias), sewing machines,
experimental corners, rooms for digital games, places for editing video and so
one. Just make a visit, is free and very close to railway station! : )
Other cities can be a little standard in comparison to other Finnish cities.
Everywhere in Finland is possible to reach
the Forest, but if, for example, you want to be really immersed into the
culture, I recommend to be more into Forest, be in a cottage, meet native
people (you can try using Couchsurfing to be hosted by people and meet natives,
freely!), make sauna, walk in the Forest! Try to visit national Parks. I think
Finland is more about Nature and Rock :D Sauna is free or very cheap in lots of
places, in Helsinki it may cost a lot! Sauna can be mixed and usually made naked – Warning alert!
You may see, and it’s a fact, that there
are lots of drunken people on the street, but they are not dangerous, only can
be annoying.
I could experience lots of things of
Finnish culture such as making sauna regularly, walk in the forest, make
makarra (sausages) in the fire in the forest, swimming in the lake during
Winter and Summer.
I was in love with the Moomins - it’s very inspiring story,
I was able to read the books in English that I booked from the town’s library.
Where I lived the library has agreement with lots of Libraries of towns nearby
(distance until more and less 50km) and it’s possible to make requisitions from
other libraries and they bring the books/CDs/DVDs you want! I love that system.
My trips to Helsinki were most of the time
to see concerts, for me a total paradise :D \m/ I could see lots of great artist,
specially bands I could never see in my own country because, unfortunately,
they don’t go there, such as my favourite Japanese metal band Dir En Grey.
I
discovered so many great Finnish metal bands; went to ON THE ROCKS two times,
it was amazing! Discovered Whispered and become fan immediately (same week as Dir en Grey). In the day of my Mid-Term training, when it finnished, I came back to Helsinki city centre to see a great tribute band to TOOL \m/.
In the
end of June I come back to Helsinki again to go to TUSKA metal festival where
lots of bands I admire were there including my favourite band OPETH. The environment
is really amazing, the festival is not so big, it’s easy to move from stage to
stage. For my Surprise, after OPETH concert it was HEILUNG and after HEILUNG
to finish the day SLAYER performed. I was assisting to Slayer and suddenly
3 members of Opeth mixed themselves into the crowd and stood in front of me! I
took 10 minutes to calm down and try to talk with them *_* I was very happy, I
could talk with my long term idol Mikael Åkerfeldt *_* he is so nice and
humble, was a great pleasure and happiness to me :) He've been at least 5 minutes talking, having a real conversation <3. They were just in the crowd because they felt comfortable in that place. I assure you, all places I've been in Finland are quite and feel like home (it's what I feel).
me with Opeth in TUSKA \m/
During Tuska Metal Fest I stayed with my EVS friends that lived in Helsinki; after the festival I visited other EVS friend in Karjaa, an Eco-Village 1h distance from Helsinki; after that I made a trip to Russia by Train from Helsinki- St. Petersburg and few days later I moved from St. Petersburg to Moskow by night Train, and then Moskow - Helsinki by night Train.
Russian Train, sleeping compartment
(Very confortable, I must say!!)
my stamp notebook, first stamps from Russia
I visited quite lot of places in Finland:
Kuopio, Kokkola, Oulu, Kalajoki, Ylivieska, Rovaniemi, Sodankylä, Tampere,
Turku, Helsinki, Ranua, Syöte, Karjaa; and other countries nearby: Estonia
(Talliinn and Tartu), Russia (St. Peterburg and Moscow) and Stockholm (in
Sweden).
While I was traveling I made some videos that only show the places my eyes could see and that resulted the serie A PORTUGUESE IN FINLAND - EVS VLOG available on my youtube channel.
I had the best time of my life during that year I moved to Finland. I found the peace , the quality of life I was looking for. I wasn't expecting of enjoying so much! I was well received by my hosting organization Ylivieskan Nuorisopalvelut! (ikuisesti kiitollinen <3), I lived in great conditions, I had flexible schedule, I met a lot of amazing People (Finnish and not Finnish). I felt inspired, I felt secure! I felt not judged, People respected me, trusted me, appreaciated my work and character, I felt so well, really, I hardly had a bad time. I did not face Cultural Shock because I came prepared, I knew more and less how was going to me be my life, how weather and people would be. I wanted to have a time of retreat and I believed I had, with my solitude and Nature, but also socialized and travelled a lot. I had a studio only for myself. I had my own space,but I was not necessarily alone. In the same building was living my mate, the other volunteer, with which I had great times : ) "Catching" Aurora Borialis, Dinners with friends, Going to Tuska and Moomin Museum and so one.
my evs mate Adrien and me and a gorila in the middle :D
Professionaly it was great to me because I did things related with my Area: Cinema, Video and Photography. I made lots of videos to local Youth organizations, I started doing Graphic Design Works, also covered some events with Photos, organized a bi-monthly movieclub in which I shown different kind of movies from different nationalities and had discussion about movies; and had the Big opportunity to organize an International Film Festival, in other words, being CEO of Kalajoki Film Fest. I had a proposal during the Volunteering to work for Kalajoki (other town nearby) and make an International Film Festival only with Portuguese Movies. I was working In Ylivieska to Kalajoki at distance and working for the Ylivieska town simultaneously. The Festival was in the end of August so I needed to stay 15 days more in Finland after the end of the official contract of my Volunteering and during those days I moved to Kalajoki in which the festival took place. I trully enjoyed the experience. I learned a lot, I watched amazing movies and we received the presence of Carla Ruaro, pianist and director of "Raízes - A Piano in the Amazon". She was present to talk to the audience and performed live with the musics from the movie. Her movie is online, please watch on Youtube.
Carla Ruaro talking to the audience after Screening of
"Raízes - A piano in the Amazon" at Kalajoki Film Fest
Carla Ruaro and me
Kalajoki Film Fest outside in Hilmantori
Kalajoki Film Fest inside Virta-Sali
Maybe in few years the Festival continues, who knows?
Watch the small video about Kalajoki Film Festival
I experienced Aurora Borealis without the
need of going to Lapland;
I was officially above arctic circle, I saw the Midnight
Sun shining;
I experienced long period of Darkness and brightness;
I made Sauna
thinking I wouldn’t like it but, like everyone else I loved it so much!
I
had my first Christmas with True Christmas vibes (lots of snow, good fresh air
and good vibes);
I saw reindeers and moose on the rode in Lapland;
I felt the
good fresh air from the forest;
I made Ice swimming during Winter time;
I met an accountable number of nice people (Finnish and not
Finnish);
I had a good EVS experience and I TRULY LOVE SUOMI FROM MY HEART!
Aurora Boreal, Ylivieska, Finland
Thank you so much for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the reading and if you want to know more about the EVS/ESC program or life in Finland, please ask me and I will try to answer.
