Congolese eagerly await the move into Finland after a thorough orientation
The Finnish Immigration Service, Finn Church Aid and the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences (Diak) organised cultural orientation training for quota refugees in Rwanda in early November. In the training, quota refugees chosen for Finland receive orientation before the move as a part of a project funded by the European Refugee Fund.
The trainers and interpreters travelled from Finland to Kigali, Rwanda, where they set up a training centre for four days. The long training days covered a comprehensive amount of basic information on the Finnish society, people and language.
129 Congolese quota refugees selected in 2012, awaiting resettlement in Finnish municipalities, participated in the training.
Future bus drivers, teachers and nurses
The training, organised before arrival in Finland, helps the refugees to integrate in their new home country. In addition to practicalities, the training discusses ways of coping with the big life change ahead.
– The goal of the training is to provide all refugees with the most realistic image possible of their future living environment in Finland. In addition, they get help in understanding and processing the emotions brought out by the new environment and situation in life, says Project Manager Marjo Mäkelä, Senior Adviser, Finnish Immigration Service.
The participants are told about equality, the rules of living in a block of flats, and the Finnish perception of time. They are also prepared for possible prejudices they may encounter in Finland. Practical plans of the future life are made during the training.
– I asked the trainees to visualize where they wanted to be in five years. Their goals were very realistic: working as a bus driver, a nurse, or a nanny, says Marja Pentikäinen, Head of Competence Area (Participation and Health), Diak.
The trainees' motivation surprised the trainers
According to Mäkelä, the Congolese refugees' thirst for knowledge, high motivation to learn and active participation in the training surprised the experienced immigration professionals in a very positive way. The Congolese background of one of the members of the training team increased the motivation of the trainees.
– A person who had been through the same things as many of the trainees was involved. This person had come to Finland from a refugee camp, learned the language and a profession and found a place in the society, Marjo Mäkelä says.
The environment encountered by the orientation trainers in Rwanda was very different than the first training location in Turkey, where the training began in October. The refugees trained in Turkey had lived in an urban environment, and in Rwanda they came mainly from camps. After the training, the Congolese refugees could already say a few basic sentences in Finnish.
In early December, the Finnish Immigration Service, Finn Church Aid and the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences will organise another orientation training in Malawi.
Further information for the media:
Project Manager Marjo Mäkelä, Senior Adviser, Finnish Immigration Service
firstname.lastname@migri.fi, tel. +358 71 873 0431
Miina Puntila, Head of Unit for Programme Planning and Coordination, Finn Church Aid
firstname.lastname@kirkonulkomaanapu.fi, tel. +358 400 103374
