Tomorrow...

(Cross-posted in Jacob's Blog.)

Annikki and I were invited to attend a seminar organised by EFA (Expatriate Family Adjustment). It was called "Dialogue Today, Action Tomorrow - Visions on internationalisation".

Annikki was unable to attend. But I did, primarily to cover this for my blogs.

Having been actively involved with work related to foreigners in Finland from 1984, having served as the elected representative of the English Speaking Community on the Ethnic Minorities Advisory Board (ETNO) from 1999 to 2003, having organised the ETHICS (Effective Tools for Harmonious Integration using Cultural and Sporting Activities) Conference, having been the representative of the Pohjois-Pohjanmaa (Northern Finland) Region in the Finnish Sports Federation special action group on Tolerance (chaired by Finnish Olympian Gold medallist Tapio Korjus) from 1999 to 2003, having been an Advisor to the National Equal Opportunities Organisation from 1996 to 2003, having been the Vice Chairman of the Oulu Section of the Same Law For All from 1998 to 2002, and having with Annikki been vocally and physically active in fighting Finnish Bureaucracy and its racist and anti foreigner stand from 1984, I still do have some interest in this subject.

However, I am sceptical of any initiatives as they are really superficial and exist only on paper to promote the "image" of a tolerant Finnish Society. As Annikki and I have repeatedly said - Finland is like a polished apple - all shiny outside, but rotten to the core inside.

Deputy Mayor of Oulu addresses the audience

The Deputy Mayor of Oulu Päivi Laajala said all the nice things that have to be said in her presentation "New Challenges for a fast growing city". That is the official stand that Oulu intends to be an International and Culal City and it is working to a plan. But it was purely superficial!


The organiser, Ata Bos, from The Netherlands,
with a Oulu City Official. Sandra Grotsch from Germany, who acts
as a part time journalist for a web newspaper,
65degrees North, started by Ata Bos,
is on the far right

Ata Bos, who has been running this EFA project gave a well thought out presentation of what she has achieved during the two years she has been running this project. She did not address the very fundamental issue that her contract was for 2 years as she is a foreigner and the City of Oulu cannot employ a foreigner for more than a period of 2 years unless.....


Strategy Manager of the Oulu City, Juha Ojala

There was a presentation by a consultant,, Juha Ojala, Corporate Strategy Manager of the City of Oulu, on the subject of Oulu's Strategy 2015 - a lot of waffle and above all skirting the main issue - Oulu City employs 10,000 people and less than 20 (0.2%) are from the migrant communities. The "migrant community forms more than 2.5% of the local population. If the City cannot set an example in its employment policy, I wondered who is preaching to whom?


Lena Viskari, one of the entertaining and outspoken
panel memberS from Poland


Two more of the panel members,
a Researcher at Oulu University from Italy and
an Engineer working in a Finnish company, The Netherlands

There was a panel composed of a persons from Italy, Estonia, US, Poland and The Netherlands - and they did express some of the problems faced by them during their stays in Finland lasting from 9 years down.

I had been intending to sit quietly through the proceedings but certain matters in the Deputy Mayor's speech and the Strategy Manager's presentation really riled me.

I asked the audience to look at the Panel and the Panel to look at the audience and asked them whether they thought it in any way odd. No-one could see anything strange.

I pointed out that over 70% of the unemployed minorities in Oulu are from the African countries and there was not a single person present to share their views on this subject. Other than an Indian whom I met the day before at an Amnesty International meeting and whom I had dragged to this meeting, there was hardly anyone from Asia (India and China) and there apppeared to be no one from the Russian Community, the largest single group of migrants to Finland.

I then threw my second punch - I pointed to the title of the conference and then drew attention to another well known English idiom, "Tomorrow never comes". I said I had been waiting for 22 years for that "Tomorrow"!

I think I shattered the slight "feel good" factor by throwing in the Racism card into the proceedings.

The discussions after this were lively and many importnat questions were raised from the floor mainly related to the incomprehensible employment norms being followed by almost all Finnish employers.

I was permitted the final comment. I drew attention to subject of lack freedom of speech in Finland but above all the lack of any participation by the media in this event. Ata pointed out she had sent out 20 invitations to the media - and not one had responded!

Well at least, I did!


The guest speaker, Ruth von Renken, with Anne Rännäli of the Oulu City

The highlight of the afternoon was a presentation by the author of "Third Culture Kids" Ruth von Reken. As all my children are third and fourth culture kids, I found the presentation most interesting and bought her book, co-authored by David Pollack, for Annikki, as she has a special interest in this subject being a Montessori advocate. Ruth has a fascinating background having been brought up in Nigeria during the first 12 years of her life. Her roots have many branches and that was made her talk so interesting.

Ruth, being a little younger than me, was pointing the next generation in the audience as the ones who would shape the future for the Third Culture Kids. After the conference, I did go to her and point out the Maria Montessori philosophy that "the child is the father of man" would mean even the generation who she was pointing to did not have the wherewithal to solve the problems. I do hope Ruth will follow that idea further.

I have asked Annikki to give me a comment on Ruth's book, so I hope in a few weeks to have something on it on the blog.

This conference was a genuine attempt by Ata to focus on serious issue. It is a good starting place. Unfortunatesly, as Annikki and I see it, we have been on these starting blocks for the last 22 years and we hope that at least they get to put the bolts down in the coming 10 years so that we may get the race to commence sometime!