In January this year, Karoliina decided to take a meaningful break in her life and jump into a 9-month volunteering service in the beautiful island of Åland, where she works with ABF Åland, a local non-governmental organization. After her first two months of service, she shares with us what her current ESC life is like. Enjoy the reading!
“The first weeks here were full introduction weeks to everything and a lot of paperwork. I met my bosses and my roommate, they were all nice. My roommate helped me with the essential tasks, such as registering at the tax office, post office and migration centre. She also introduced me to her work and gave me a better understanding of what she has been doing here and what our tasks are.
During these weeks, I also went on several study visits to different organizations, such as Åland’s Nature and Environment Centre, the immigration center and the Red Cross. I also got straight to work at the Emmaus second-hand store.
Usually, my week looks something like this:
On Sunday evenings we pick up waste food (food that is on the verge of going bad, but isn’t yet) from grocery stores.
On Mondays we have a little project called “Varje steg räknas” (Every step counts). We start our day by cooking soup from the waste food at Pelaren, a center for adults with disabilities and people who feel lonely. After cooking the soup, we go on a small mental health walk with everyone who is interested. After the walk, we eat soup and just chat.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually more flexible. On these days we usually work on our own projects, do administrative tasks, help prepare for children’s camps, clean, or help with whatever else is needed. Usually we also have Swedish lessons on these days (so four hours of Swedish lessons per week in total). I have learned quite a lot from these and I also try to learn on my free time.
Wednesdays and Fridays we work at Emmaus, which is a huge second-hand store chain. One day at the warehouse part and the other in the boutique part.
Occasionally we also have meetings or projects with the Nature and Environment organization or prepare for and then also participate in children’s camps in the archipelago.
I also already had my completely own project, I hosted an Estonian evening. I made pea soup (both vegan and non-vegan) and semlor. I had about 12 participants (both locals and Estonians) and people wished for more evenings. 🙂
Beyond work I also had the on-arrival-training in Finland, where I met a lot of amazing people who are also volunteering in different parts of Finland. It was very motivating and such a good change to routine to just be away for a bit. I also joined the local orchestra here in Åland.
We will have some new tasks coming up soon, such as taking care of the garden we have and helping with emptying fish traps as part of a project that counts fish. We are also already preparing some activities for summer and preparing for the next youth camp.
One of the biggest surprises so far has been the working culture. It resembles more of a Swedish working culture, twice per average working day there are Fikas and everyone is pretty equal regardless of their position at work. I sometimes forget that I am technically in Finland haha.
One of the biggest challenges so far has been dealing with loneliness. The nature here on Åland is really nice and it’s super calm, but at times, it can feel isolating. I am trying to take it positively and spend my free time working on my interests etc, but it’s sometimes really hard. I am just hoping that in summer there will be more people here and various events taking place and more places also open.”
Karoliina