Katsot Savon Sanomien arkistokolumnia. Tämä kolumni on julkaistu
04.01.2011 00:01
Kolumni
Coming to an End
Mary Nurminen
Kirjoittajan kolumnit
As my kids have grown up I've had more free time, and after all those years of running around and having no time to myself, what did I do with that time?
Filled it up with activities and more running around, of course.
By last summer my after-work life was getting so hectic that I noticed that I was running all the time and starting to not enjoy doing things. It was clear I would have to give something.
After thinking through all my various activities, I realized that I have 1 thing I've done for a very long time, and that maybe it would be time to give that thing up: my column in Savon Sanomat. So this is my second-to-last column, after the next one I will retire to concentrate on other things.
I did want to tell you a bit about some of the things taking my free time. One of my favorite activities is being a friend to another foreigner. She is an Afghan who was forced to leave her home 14 years ago. After spending several years in Iran and several more in Turkey, she and her teenage son arrived in Finland about 5 years ago.
I became a friend to both of them about a year ago through my local Red Cross's friendship program. I have tried to be helpful to them in any way I can, though I also think that they have been just as helpful to me and I've learned a lot through knowing them.
In some ways I have a good understanding of what it was like for them to move to Finland. In other ways I have no clue whatsoever. Moving to another country is always difficult, but being forced to leave your home is another thing entirely. Learning a new language is hard, but definitely easier when your own language at least had the same writing system and alphabet as the new one.
Having these friends led me to start another new activity: starting up a volunteer group for teaching Finnish to immigrants in collaboration with the "Luetaan yhdessä" campaign.
It's amazing to me what kinds of courses there are now for new immigrants, compared to the 0 (zero, zilch, none) courses available when I moved to Iisalmi in 1988. The government has reacted quickly and has got a good start in putting together education to get people moving.
However, there are people who fall through the cracks of this system, often women. They are home with small children or their health is not good so they can't make it to the courses. Luetaan yhdessä was formed to help these people move forward in speaking, reading and writing Finnish.
There are Luetaan yhdessä groups all over Finland, and volunteering as a teacher or teacher's assistant doesn't require that you have a background in teaching. It's enough to be enthusiastic about helping others learn.
So just in case you've been wanting to start a new hobby, or if you'd like to help someone who really needs it and learn a lot yourself, think about volunteering time to work with immigrants. A few places to start looking for information are listed below:
Red Cross, www.redcross.fi, the pages for the Savo-Karjala area are here: http://www.redcross.fi/aktiivit/piirit/sivut/savo-karjala/
Luetaan yhdessä: www.luetaanyhdessa.fi
Monikulttuurikeskus Kompassi in Kuopio: http://www.puijola.net/kompassi/
And if you don't think it would be your thing to work with immigrants, why not become a friend to an elderly person? The Red Cross and many other organizations have friendship programs, and it's a great way to spend time.
Lastly, I'd like to say a big thank you to all of my readers from the past 20 years. I'm not always sure if the English I use is the best kind for keeping up language skills, it's mostly informal and slangy. But what the heck, hopefully it's been useful.
Mary Nurminen pähkäilee suomen kielen ja suomalaispsyyken kiemuroita.
