25 new faces observed the surroundings from the other side of the circle. They were about the same age as our Finnish participants, young adults and adolescents. A couple of them had babies that were taken care of not only by them but also by their fellow mates, asylum seekers that joined our youth camp for a day. The collaboration took place in YMCA Helsinki’s property in Karjalohja, Southern Finland on May 14th. The idea came from a former employee of YMCA Helsinki, Mia Niemelä, who suggested that Red Cross and YMCA Helsinki would work together to introduce young asylum seekers to Finnish culture and people their age. Eveliina Niemelä, the youth work coordinator of YMCA Helsinki, invited the asylum seekers to join a youth camp for a day. The Finnish participants of the camp were between 15 and 22 years of age, active young people from Helsinki Y Club.
Eveliina Niemelä shared a few words about the camp and the property, followed by a short speech from the representative of the asylum seekers, who works with the young people in a reception center in Southern Finland. The youth joining our camp were from a reception center for under-aged asylum seekers where their living and Finnish lessons are provided by the nation. Although most of the youngsters participating spoke Finnish very well, their representative translated what was being told in dari, the native language of almost all in the group. Majority of the asylum seekers joining the camp were young men, and most of them were from Afghanistan, a couple from Iraq and one from both Nigeria and Somalia.
Activities for the day were planned and organized by the Finnish youngsters participating in the youth camp, while Niemelä and Niemelä managed things together with another leader, Antti Mantere. The guests and the camp participants were divided into two mixed groups. One of the groups headed to an adventure track that everyone was welcome to try and go through. In the meantime, the other group was playing typical Finnish interactive games outdoors, which is something that the asylum seekers wished to do. All of us had lunch together and got the chance to chat a little more and share stories and experiences with each other. The other group joined in a soccer game, while those who hadn’t yet gone through the adventure track got to do that. The rest of us continued with fun games inside. At some point one of our guests suggested that we would dance, and so we did. The floor was soon full of young people dancing to Middle Eastern music with the Afghan boys teaching some moves. That was followed by some traditional Finnish dances that everybody picked up quickly.
We were all a little sad to say goodbye to our new friends. Our guests seemed to really have had enjoyed the day, and they thanked us warmly, as did we for their visit. Luckily, there is more to come as YMCA and Red Cross are planning on collaborating again in the near future. All together the day, although a little stiff at first, turned into a day of fun and laughter. Bonding came naturally and didn’t require more than doing simple things together like playing soccer or dancing. We got to witness how young people are the same everywhere, and that there’s common ground to be found anywhere.
