Our common journey to discover beautiful Sweden... I mean Finland...
Our shared journey of discovering beautiful Sweden... or rather, Finland 🙂
WAIT!!!
Where exactly were we?
The primary goal of our Slovak-Czech expedition was the Ă…land Islands. Don't feel guilty if you have no idea where these more than 6,500 islands are located. These small pieces of Scandinavian paradise, hidden in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden, were a great mystery to us before the project.
So, were we in Finland or Sweden? A very tricky question that has been associated with these islands for years, and for which there is no clear answer. From all sides, you hear melodious Swedish with an interesting accent, but in the shops, you read Finnish names and pay in euros. Ă…land, after years of political struggles, is an autonomous province of Finland that speaks Swedish. It might sound complicated, but believe me, the journey to these islands is much more complicated. However, if you are as lucky as we were, with the help of your sending organization, smiling Swedes, and one incredibly helpful Spaniard, it's not impossible.
The shared journey for most of us began on a train from Slovakia, where, after minor complications, we successfully found each other and traveled to meet the rest of our crew waiting in Prague. At the airport, we created our “child” (meaning checked baggage consisting of sleeping bags and sleeping mats) and slightly surprised the Prague airport staff with our request to check in our mysterious black bag. However, we managed it and boarded the plane to our first stopover, the beautiful Stockholm.
Here we managed a small tour, but we knew that our journey was not even halfway through. So we continued to the edge of the Scandinavian peninsula and boarded our most essential mode of transport for the next week, the ferry. After an almost three-hour journey, we arrived in Mariehamn, the capital and largest city of Ă…land. Exhausted but happy, we finally met Joanna, the person who made it possible for us to reach our destination.
With somewhat recharged energy, we set out the next day to explore Mariehamn. Our guide was Deniz, a Turkish EVS volunteer from Turkey with a very good sense of humor. He showed us the hidden corners of the small capital and shared his observations and impressions of life on the Scandinavian island. Our tour ended in a second-hand shop. Strange? Not in Ă…land.
This is where a branch of the Emmaus Ă…land organization is located. This organization primarily focuses on helping society by mediating work for people with special needs or problems. It also places great emphasis on saving our planet and providing material aid to those who need it. Together with 350 other groups from 37 different countries, they operate second-hand shops, where you can find less than 20% of donated items, because the rest goes to various countries to people who need them.
Our steps continued in search of new information, this time of a slightly political and organizational nature. To find out how things actually work in Ă…land. We were welcomed by perhaps the most qualified people: the director of The Ă…land Islands Peace Institute, Sia Spiliopoulou Ă…kermark, and the head of the information department, Susann Simolin. They described the Ă…land model, their interesting path to autonomy, how their laws and elections work, and also the everyday problems of the inhabitants. They also introduced us to their organization and its efforts to help through research, dissemination of information, and active communication. We concluded with a very pleasant discussion not only about the islands' problems but also about deeply debated Slovak and Czech topics.
Since it's already autumn in Ă…land and the so-called "winter mode" has begun, we had to come to terms with the fact that only two ferries a day go to our next stop and hurry up. A weekend camp of the children's organization SKUNK on Kumlinge island was waiting for us. The organization strives to provide leisure activities for children in the Ă…land archipelago and enable them to meet other young people. Because when only 19 students attend your school in total, it can sometimes be difficult not to get cabin fever. And even though these kids don't have it easy in many ways, they welcomed us with incredible smiles, perfect English, and opinions you wouldn't expect from an adult, let alone a thirteen-year-old girl. They welcomed us into their camp family, and together we enjoyed every moment. Whether during shared games, workshops, intercultural night, or long evening conversations.
They explained to us how difficult it is to live on an island with only a hundred people, to go to school every morning by taxi boat, or how completely unrealistic it is to cheat when a year group consists of only two people. It is admirable that despite such great isolation from the "big world," these children were in many ways more mature, wiser, and more experienced than any teenager from our country. Raised with maximum tolerance towards others and taught great responsibility from an early age. Not once did you hear them contradict the animators, grumble about the program, or complain about anything else. Yet they were still playful and crazy teenagers determined to commit any crazy idea.
Together we composed our own song, expanded our IT skills, and last but not least, learned a lot from each other about the people around us and ourselves. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a fire ceremony at the harbor, where each of us let our candle burn.
Scandinavian kindness and hospitality were most beautifully provided by the director of SKUNK, Mias Hanström, who invited us to her home. She prepared traditional Åland pancakes for us, which only enhanced the unique Scandinavian atmosphere during the visit. We discussed various topics until late in the evening.
And as if that wasn't enough, the next day we had the opportunity to talk with her husband, the headmaster of the elementary school in Kumlinge. He clarified the pitfalls of running a school with only 19 students and many other problems that can accumulate in such an isolated environment...
We concluded our visit to Kumlinge with a typical Scandinavian game of Kubb, during which, fortunately, no one got hurt, and we were able to happily say goodbye to our new Ă…land friends.
We wanted to give Sweden, and especially Stockholm, a chance, where we had the opportunity to stay overnight and explore it. To get lost in its beautiful streets and find ourselves at the top of a viewing platform watching the city panorama...
I think you've noticed that our trip to Ă…land was not just for tourism and not a holiday.
It was about discovering, inspiring, learning, discussing.
To see that no matter how many obstacles and adverse circumstances you have around you, there is always a way. All you need are a few determined, clever people who see meaning in their work.
Thank you... ♥
