minna, Author at Maailmanvaihto ry

Communication can clear the gap between generations

Pham Minh Tuan has his story to tell about a jump from Vietnam to Finland and from Millenial’s comfort zone to a house of the elderly. Let’s discover his volunteering year in Finland!

Back in 2016, when studying in college in Vietnam, Tuan was thinking about doing something boldly and differently in a meaningful way. He decided to do volunteering abroad and eventually chose Finland as a destination. Finland was familiar to Tuan since his sister had come to Finland to study long time before and he had got a chance to know Finland little by little through her stories.

Even though he had prepared himself for the cold, darkness and quietness, it still took him some time to adapt to this new life. Maybe it is not a surprise that person who comes from a warm, vibrant Vietnam with one hundred million people, got a bit of a culture shock by quietness in Finland where everybody respects the individual space of each other.

“In Vietnam, when you step outside your house in the morning, you will see a lot of people talking; neighbours greeting each other, people chatting while eating breakfast from street vendors. We usually have small talks even if we are strangers to each other”, Tuan tells.

Time went by and Tuan found for him a solution to overcome this culture barrier. That was communicating and opening up himself. By doing so, he realized that Finnish people are very warm, kind and friendly. He felt more comfortable to approach and talk with people who he worked with and met in events and streets. Tuan had learned a lesson for life: every problem can be solved by communication.

A friend for the elderly

At Palvelukoti Sofia, Tuan’s tasks included helping old people with their daily routine like eating, walking, self-cleaning. Most of all he was a friend to them.

“I started my workday at 8.15 by helping the elderly take their breakfasts. After they finished, I washed the dishes in the kitchen and moved to the second floor. There me and my colleague helped the old people in “Ryhmäkoti” where the elderly are supported also by nurses. Around lunchtime we returned to the kitchen and after finishing lunch and cleaning the kitchen, we went to Ryhmäkoti again to help the nurses. My workday used to end at 13”, Tuan tells.

Working with old people brought Tuan a pleasant experience of communicating between generations – Millennial and people of the 1930’s and 40’s. Since most of the elderly did not speak English, he had to seek help from his Finnish colleagues or from using body language in his first weeks, which sometimes caused miscommunication.

Communicating by caring

Later on, Tuan learned basic Finnish words related to his daily work in order to better communicate with the elderly. Observing Tuan trying to learn Finnish, old people were happy to teach him more. As the result, their talks improved and the topics went beyond daily routine.

“I learnt that caring is the best way of communicating with the elderly as well-being is their top concern when ageing”, Tuan tells. Thinking that way, every morning he come to work, he used to ask them how they were doing.

Tuan liked to hear the stories of the elderly and in return he shared his future plans and asked for valuable advice.

In Tuan’s opinion, communication between Millennial and old generations would never be hard if we thought that every old person is a book about their life waiting to be read and discovered. Therefore, he was always eager to hear stories about what they had experienced and learnt in the past. In return, he shared his future plans with them and asked for valuable advice. Voluntary period at Palvelukoti Sofia brought Tuan a lot of special memories, experiences and lessons learnt.

After a year of volunteering, Tuan decided to pursue nursing degree in Finland, which enables him to provide the care for people in need. He sends a message to all young people: “Go boldly and don’t be afraid. The world out there is waiting for you to discover it. Volunteering abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you never want to miss!”

Text: Pham Diep
Photo: Tuan’s album

In the photo: Pham Minh Tuan travelled from Vietnam to Finland to volunteer in an elderly care home. Tuan (left) and Maailmanvaihto’s camp leader Markus in the on-arrival training camp in 2016.

The article has been published in the magazine MaailmanVaihtoa – Volunteers’ Voices 1/2019.

Helsinki: Become a host family for Lyhty’s young Italian volunteer!

Maailmanvaihto is looking from Helsinki for a host family for young Italian volunteer, Miriana, who arrives to Alppila, Helsinki next August.

Miriana will volunteer for a year (8/2019–8/2020) in an NGO called Lyhty which provides workshops and housing for disabled people. Miriana will assist in Lyhty’s textile workshop Luovilla situated in Alppila district. The aim of the volunteering period is to advance intercultural understanding through everyday cooperation.

Would you have space for a young volunteer in your home? Accommodating foreign volunteer is a voluntary activity, which provides a wonderful opportunity to internationalize oneself at home, improve language skills and gain new perspectives into a familiar environment.

Host family role suits for any family or person interested in getting to know a new person and their cultural background as well as ready to share their home with a new family member. Host family provides accommodation and meals for the volunteer. We are mainly looking for a family who can provide home for Miriana for the whole volunteering period, but shorter periods (e.g. four months) are possible as well.

Miriana

18 years old young woman from Italy
volunteers in Lyhty’s textile workshop Luovilla, Helsinki 8/2019–8/2020
mother tongue Italian, speaks English as well
interested in art
looks forward to getting to know the local cultural environment and landscapes

Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland was founded in 1958. We work for promoting intercultural understanding, equality and peace. Maailmanvaihto sends young volunteers abroad and receives volunteers both from Europe and further away. The volunteers work in common-good work communities.

Interested?

If you would be interested in becoming a host family for Miriana, please read through the general information on host family activities and contact us afterwards at hosting(at)maailmanvaihto.fi.

”At least after this two months’ experience, I can highly recommend becoming host family for everyone interested seeing, hearing and experiencing more. Sometimes a jump into thee unknown can turn out to be the best thing.” – A member of host family Jaana Silvast

My enriching experience in a Finnish Residential School

My name is Daniela Vázquez Sánchez, I am volunteering in the Sippolankoulukoti in Finland. This Residential School comprises about 50 staff taking care of 20 to 25 youngsters between 12 and 19 years old. The reasons why these youngsters live and/or study here range from mental, psychological to family problems related to sex abuse, drugs, alcoholism.

Sippola is a very little town/village located in the region of Kymenlaakso; buses are the only public transport and they are far from good because there are only two from Sippola to the nearest cities, one from the nearest cities to Sippola. This is useful for the school in order to avoid having the youngsters escape; though of course some of them still find ways of doing it.

My time at school is divided into 4 classes: 2 in the Main Building, 1 in a separate building, and 1 in the Special Care Unit, where I have spent most of my time and found to be really interesting. I have been supporting teaching English and Spanish lessons. I also led some art lessons by teaching Mexican art and cooking lessons by cooking Mexican food. I participate in the music and sports lessons, and help staff to maintain the rules of the unit, e.g. cleaning the kitchen, giving the children tools to clean the house, talking to them about all kinds of stuff… so I follow the rules and give them an example to follow.

We went swimming in the lake many times, playing badminton and exercising at the gym. There, I could experience the informal and non-formal education, while spending time with them, building a family atmosphere for and with them, talking about their problems and evaluating their tasks in order to solve them.

During summer, I still worked in that unit, doing all the home activities already mentioned, as well as cooking and of course eating with them. We went swimming in the lake many times, playing badminton and exercising at the gym. There, I could experience the informal and non-formal education, while spending time with them, building a family atmosphere for and with them, talking about their problems and evaluating their tasks in order to solve them. They have a system with written daily and weekly tasks to be discussed later during a group discussion (twice a week with lots of candies and chocolates). The aim is to treat them well, to respect their thoughts and feelings and of course to guide them according to their beliefs or wishes.

Nowadays I support 4 different classes, as I have organized my own schedule. I organized, for instance, some Spanish lessons for the only boy who wants to learn it; my mentor provided me 4 old books for Finnish people who want to learn Spanish, so I adapted the best pages I found from them and combined them with my own material. This way, I got to make a tiny syllabus to follow, and each day I wrote down the most notable progress. I have the same system for the English lessons. But for this, I use more conversation tasks. I try to make both lessons lively; I always start by saying something about me and then asking about them. I show them pictures of my hometown in Mexico, I tell them funny stories about the cultural differences I have found between Finland, Mexico and other countries I have lived in, and suddenly, they don’t notice how interested they can be in knowing about the countries’ location, or how the food looks like, and then we start some questions on cards I have already prepared.

For Arts and Home Economics lessons, I have had the chance to first show them how Art and Cuisine is in Mexico, and then we start creating our own things inspired by this Aztec, Mayan or Nahuatl influences I have. They do follow my plan, yes, because they know I support the teacher, but I also let them tell me anything they would like to have for the class. We discuss the activities they like and I give them a little feedback to improve. Teachers here do the same, and I feel proud about the fact that it is something I’ve been doing for many years already with my students in Mexico. I like how the Finnish system for Residential school works, and I like how non-formal education works no matter whether it is in Mexico or Finland; my Mexican students liked that I try to give real attention to their learning, not only to follow the syllabus. I try to make them more confident with their learning, and to cooperate with each other, which makes things easier in a large group. For that, I make smaller groups and instruct them to support each other over one month. The next month they have to work with and support another set of people I choose. It is a structure that helps them learn from different personalities.

And opposite to what some people may think, I never get bored during my free time in Finland! Staff is super kind and nice to me! They always help me when I need them, and some of them have become my friends. It has been great to have a support person in Helsinki, a support family in one of the nearest bigger towns, and one in Sippola. They are always for me to cook together, have dinner, go swimming to the lake, take me with them to their celebrations or events with family and friends, and even to pick me up somewhere and give me a lift to my home.

I dare to say my volunteering in Finland has been very enriching in many ways. It has been a very personal process that I needed before coming here.

I dare to say my volunteering in Finland has been very enriching in many ways. It has been a very personal process that I needed before coming here. I had worked as a teacher for 5 years in Mexico, and I felt kind of exhausted with all the hard work with little children and adults. This was my chance to prove to myself I can actually work well with what I consider the most difficult age group of students: teenagers. It is not the first time I am working with non-formal and informal methods, but it is something not well embraced in Mexico yet. Now I am sad to be leaving Finland soon, but happy and excited at the same time, of coming back to continue bridging this gap between formal and non-formal education.

The article has been published in the 41th issue of the World Experience (2016).

Volunteering in the workshop Kisälli

Slovakian Miroslava Sloviakova volunteered in the season 2017–2018 in the workshop Kisälli which provides art and work therapy for disabled people in Vihti, Finland. In March 2019, Mirka visited Finland again and looked back to her volunteering experience. What did volunteering in Kisälli give for her? Have a look!

Lehtimäki Special Folk High School (Lehtimäen opisto)

Would you like to volunteer to work with people with special needs? Are you interested in learning about different kinds of therapies such as riding therapy? Welcome to Lehtimäki Special Folk High School!

Volunteering period: 12.8.2025–12.6.2026
Duration: 10 months
Positions available: 2
The last day to apply: 16 March 2025

Lehtimäki Special Folk High School (Lehtimäen opisto in Finnish) is a boarding school for youth and adults with special needs.

We offer 70–80 places for students, and there are about 40 different short-term courses for youth, adults, and elderly with disabilities and their families. We offer rehabilitation courses, such as riding therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Some training is aimed at increasing the occupational capacities of the students, through computer literacy training, for example.

Our school builds its activities around values of respecting individuality and uniqueness of people, equality among people, participation, safety, community, and lifelong learning.

Location

Lehtimäki Special Folk High School is situated in Western Finland in the small village of Lehtimäki, located about 60 km away from the city of Seinäjoki.

Volunteer’s role and tasks

As a volunteer at Lehtimäki, you will interact with students with special needs during their lessons and leisure time, supporting them in their daily activities. You’ll also assist the kitchen staff and work at the stables, probably one day a week in the kitchen and one day at the stables.

Volunteer’s profile

Volunteering at Lehtimäki could suit you well if you are motivated to work with people with special needs, have good social skills and an open attitude, and are willing to do various tasks. We are looking for volunteers with experience in horseback riding or working with horses as a hobby or a job. We also appreciate a musical background. Living in a small countryside village is part of the experience.

Accommodation, food, and transportation

The volunteers will live in an apartment in the campus area. It may be that the volunteer will be sharing the apartment with people of different gender. Meals are provided by the school restaurant. When the restaurant is closed during weekends and holidays, the volunteers will receive a food package.

Lehtimäki is situated in the countryside. The only public transportation nearby is one bus during the weekends to the nearest city Seinäjoki. The volunteers will get reimbursement for one weekly return trip between Seinäjoki and Lehtimäki, and the staff might also assist with moving around in the area.

The volunteers will have 2 days off per week and will be entitled to 2 holiday days a month.

Training during the activity

The volunteers will have an on-arrival training camp and mid-term evaluation camp organised by the Finnish National Agency of the European Solidarity Corps. In addition, they will be invited to the on-arrival training camp and mid-term evaluation camp of the coordinating organisation Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland.

The volunteers will get access to the Online Language Support (OLS) tool of the European Solidarity Corps to help them learn Finnish.

Accessibility

Lehtimäki Special Folk High School, unfortunately, cannot host volunteers with physical or sensory disabilities. If you need additional support due to a long-term illness or other reason and would like to discuss if volunteering at Lehtimäki could suit you, please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information via Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland at esc@maailmanvaihto.fi. We’ll be happy to tell you more!

Activity topics

education and training, disabilities, inclusion

How to apply?

See the application instructions

Further information

If you wish to ask something about the open position for volunteering at Nicehearts, please, see answers to frequently asked questions and European Solidarity Corps program page.
If you don’t find an answer to your question, please contact us at Maailmanvaihto at esc@maailmanvaihto.fi. Do not contact the voluntary workplace directly.
Please note that you can only apply for the open position through Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland by following the application instructions linked above.

Volunteers’ experiences

Yara: More Than I Expected: Joy, Community, and Horses at Lehtimäki Folk High School

“The work at Lehtimäen opisto has given me so much more than I’d hoped for. I was hoping for fulfilling work, yes, but I hadn’t expected it to give me so much joy. The people (students and staff members) are just lovely and the horses so cute. Plus there is an affectionate stable cat! The remote location of the project is definitely something to take into consideration, because – while opisto is in the centre of Lehtimäki – there isn’t much to do around. On the weekend there are busses to Seinäjoki (from where bus and train connections are pretty good), but otherwise you should be able to make your own entertainment. If that is something you’re good at however, and you love peace, nature, and want to work with people with all kinds of disabilities, this is a lovely place :)”

Myllylähde Community

Would you like to support adults with special needs? Does living in the countryside interest you? Welcome to Myllylähde!

Volunteering period: 12.8.2025–11.8.2026
Duration: 12 months
Positions available: 2
Apply at the latest: 16 March 2025

MYLLYLÄHDE (Myllylähde-yhteisö in Finnish) is a village community providing accommodation and work activities for adults with special needs. It is part of the International Camphill movement which was established to create participatory and inclusive communities for people with special needs, like learning disabilities.

The community members cooperate and work together sharing the different tasks, such as household tasks, arts & crafts workshop activities, gardening, and ecological farming. In Camphill communities, each person contributes according to their abilities towards the well-being of their fellows. The community is based on general Christian values and principles.

The work of Myllylähde consists of biodynamic agriculture, animal care, gardening, packing of agriculture products and weavery and handicrafts workshops. All work is done together with adults with special needs.