We are six university students coming from all over the world with a similar purpose and passion to make a difference in our world. We have travelled to Finland to help empower and promote the inclusion of all regardless of ethnicity, religion, age, etc. Our goal here in Finland is to act upon the current refugee crisis, help integrate immigrants into the Finnish community, and give them the tools required to become active members of society. We are AIESEC volunteers working for InteGreat and Hercules.

Our main responsibilities include working as a group to organize and execute events to incorporate refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers into Finnish society. We use sports as a way of bringing minorities and members of the local community together.

First event was at Titta På Tuira on Saturday

We started this project a week ago and since then we have already organized an event at the Titta på Tuira. This event consisted of us organizing various sport games/activities at the Tuira beach, with the goal of trying to bring all members of the Oulu community together. Our purpose was to organize an event that all could participate in and enjoy. We plan on organizing many more events to bring people from all ages and walks of life together through sport.

Our time in Oulu and Finland has been great! This city is incredibly beautiful and the nature here is truly one of a kind. Things we have all found interesting about Oulu: is the amount of bikes/bikers there are in the city, and the “white” nights. Over all our experience in Oulu has been a very memorable and life changing experience, and we look forward to making more memories and creating an impact during the rest of our time here.


Next event –  Lähirähinä Heikinharju – takes place on Thursday 18:00-19:30 at Oulun vastaanottokeskus/Heikinharju. It’s time for a treasure hunt! Stay tuned.

Volunteers: 
Deniz Bashash, 20, Canada
Studying human biology at the University of Toronto

Carolina Azevedo, 20, Portugal
Studying Communications at the University of Porto

Claudia Valeria Gonzales, 21, México
Studying International marketing

Gaukhar Nukizhanova, 27, Kazakhstan
Working at International School Haileybury Almaty and studying two foreign languages

Anastasia Turcan, 19, Moldova
Studying International Business and Economics

Léonard Hémon, 20, France
Studying IT Engineering