Volunteering in Piispala: Catarina’s blog
International activities are part of Piispala’s core missions as a youth centre. Our international activities are based particularly on network cooperation at regional, national and European level. We fulfill our international responsibilities by providing information and mentoring for overseas volunteer periods, youth exchanges, seminars, language courses and work camps. We promote internationalization at home by organizing, for example, school or youth house visits, or events together with foreign volunteers. Read about Catarinas’s experiences of volunteering in Piispala below.
The Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, in 1920, regarding the launch campaign of Coca-Cola, wrote: “At first, it is strange; then, it sinks in.”
This is the feeling of arriving in the depths of Finland, among lakes and forests, in the world’s center of silence. Even in the quiet transport, one feels an ode to silence, with train carriages that have cabins to make or receive phone calls. Respect for silence. The thousands of lakes make travel more winding, but also true slides of incredible postcards that show Finland beyond the tourist brochures.
Piispala, 400 km north of Helsinki, is a youth learning center with a platform of diverse offerings: various sports facilities, some of great individual challenge, others collective, some traditional, others in contact with nature using boats and the vast lake, the traditional sauna and ice-cold dips, bonfires in controlled settings encouraging social interaction and teaching safety, or even the relationship with animals at Pihka taking us to another dimension. Finland is recognized for its educational model, and Piispala is a practical example of it. Field activities are non-formal but very effective. It is a Babylon that brings together children and young people from various latitudes with a shared goal of sharing and growth.
We, the volunteers, came from countries as diverse as France, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. The ages, from 22 to 29, form a hormonal and adrenaline-filled melting pot, eager for adventure and uncertain about the future.
At first, there is curiosity, but it quickly turns into complicity. At work, there is mutual help and finetuning of each person’s skills, offering the center labor, dedication, emotion, and a sense of duty fulfilled. On days without work, individual growth emerges from the collective, along with friendship-building and even enchantment. Exploratory walks along forest trails, the back-and-forth from the sauna to the lake, the cultural experience of modern or traditional saunas, swimming pool, ice sports with emphasis on curling, climbing challenges, the joy of bowling, and frisbee golf.
UNO in a reserved room combines socializing and challenge. Trips and camps in natural parks. Meals taken from the center and organized in different spaces and restaurants reinforce sharing and integration with experienced staff members. Invitations to social gatherings at some volunteers’ homes, boat trips on the lake, bike rides to go shopping, to the pharmacy, or simply to the library. Night excursions to chase the Northern Lights. Culinary experiences forged in the kitchens of the houses where we set up our headquarters.
I come from a warm people, full of hugs, kisses, touches, laughter, and tears. At first, I feared being misunderstood, but I bring from Piispala great hugs and emotions with staff, volunteers, and the coordinator. On the day I left, I let my tears fertilize the path from home to the car.
I feel like an honorary citizen of Pihka, both for my relationship with people and my passion for animals. In the few times I was in the kitchen, I discovered people very dedicated and fully committed in such a sensitive area. Note: I had difficulty adapting to the Piispala kitchen, mainly due to the diverse use of sausages, but even that served to create a meme.
Stefan, Elisabete, Ece, and even Eliot (a former volunteer visiting) were pillars of a long stay, especially for those with family and more fragile emotionally. Tea, Hannele, Jari, Elina, Jossu, Olivia, Jonna, Emmi-Lotta, Outi, Helmi, Kalle H., Kalle, Henu, Heidi M.-H., and others were the ambassadors and hosts of those who became hard to say goodbye to.
I end by sharing the sense of responsibility that comes from the other volunteers calling me “mammy.” I also highlight the Erasmus+ program and the European Solidarity Corps for creating this revolving door of serving and being served in a single activity. José Saramago, Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote: “One must leave the island to see the island.”
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Piispala hosts international volunteers through European Solidarity Corps programme that is co-funded by the European Union.
