AIESECer's experience: Mira Metsälehto

 By: Unknown    07:54  AIESECers Experience, OGX   No comments

Mira spent her summer 2013 in Kenya. Here's her story from an unforgettable summer as an AIESEC exchange participant in Global Citizen. 

"Kenya, Eldoret, Sweet Angels Special School, that was my internship place in Summer 2013. I was blessed to have a chance to work with small angels with broken wings (= children with disabilities). I´m studying occupational therapy and the school took the maximum advance of using my skills. So I was working as occupational therapist doing individual therapy for children with cerebral palsy, autism and paralysis. Also I was helping in kitchen preparing food, feeding children and playing with them on breaks. 

In the beginning I was a bit terrified about the condition of the children. It was worse than I had thought. On the website it was said that the teaching is in English so I expected the children to know at least the basics of English. Well there was one girl out of 30 who spoke English and maybe 5 others who spoke some of it. I felt devastated, how will I communicate with them? Little by little I started to notice that I was learning to understand them and vice versa. The role of body language is huge. 

Like in most places, in Kenya I loved the nature most. Plants, animals and the sea on the coast are the things which will stay in my mind - together with the people there. 

Mira and Daisy

I became part of the Local Committee MOI, and some of it's members became lifetime friends for me. All the children of the school of course left mark to my heart but there was one special girl. Daisy is the one I miss the most in Kenya, she is my angel, she is the one who makes me both cry and smile, she is something I would have liked to take home with me.

I faced a lot of challenges yes. My computer was stolen, my phone was stolen, my camera was stolen, I had some tropical fever and I had a pretty serious bicycle accident. It was tough at times, I won't try to cover it up. I'm a warning example of that that you must be very careful, but also that you must be ready to face challenges. When you are over there it's no use worrying about them, you are still experiencing something unique and worrying is just wasting your time. And if everything doesn't go like you thought with your work, accommodation etc. just think about the possibilities what this new situation can offer for you. I had to move 3 times. Well, I had a chance to live in 3 different places surrounded by different people and environment. Positive mindset hungry for any kind of experiences, that´s what makes the internship the time of your life! Just go for it!"

All pictures ©Mira Metsälehto

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AIESECer's experience: Linnea Ervasti

 By: Unknown    11:08  AIESECers Experience, OGX   No comments

Linnea is a new Team Member in LC Jyväskylä as well as a future Exchange Participant of the Global Citizen program. We asked Linnea to let us in on the process of applying for the project and preparing for an internship, here's her story so far! Check back for more news from Linnea's experience to come during the spring.

"Getting ready…

I’m Linnea Ervasti from Jyväskylä, Finland. Last autumn I started my history studies in the University of Jyväskylä.

I’ve been dreaming about going abroad for many years, and the opportunity for that came out when I was walking around at university organization fair on the very first school week. I found the AIESEC info stand and they told me about the organization and its function – especially the opportunity for volunteering got me interested!

In the beginning of the winter LC Jyväskylä organized a Global Citizen competition on Facebook, where we got to answer the question: “Why do YOU want to volunteer abroad?” to win a grant for the internship. Well, I thought this was my chance, and started listing the things on a paper. I became more and more enthusiastic about volunteering when I was jotting the things down. I’d like to do something good for other people – to volunteer! Of course we can do good things in Finland too, but it seems like there are worse life conditions in some other countries than in Finland. Besides, I’d like to have new perspectives to life and get to know different cultures.

It was a huge WOW –reaction for me when I found out that the winner of the competition was me! Thinking about that day I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach and I still can’t really believe it! I started planning my volunteering experience with wide smile on my face.

AIESEC Jyväskylä outgoing exchange team created me a profile on myaiesec.net and I started filling some information about me on my profile. It took me a while to write my CV – before that I couldn’t get my EP-id, with which I could apply for projects. After finishing the CV I started looking for projects and countries. I had discussed with my student counselor about my studies and a good time for the trip, so I ended up deciding to go at the end of spring 2014.

CCALP Logo ©

It wasn’t easy to choose the project I’d participate in – there were a lot of great projects available! In my opinion, the search site was handy, because you could limit the opportunities with country expectations or just put there some keyword (e.g. I used the word “orphanage” many times).  I wanted to go some African country, so I picked up some English speaking African countries and I surfed on those sites dozens of times until I found the CCALP (Centre For Child Advocacy And Life Planning) project in Uganda.  The job would include, for example, playing sports and games, teaching English and maths, and organizing musical moments for the kids. Sounds tempting! :)

I sent email to the Ugandan contact person and he answered already on the next day and gave me a warm welcome to their country!  I asked him different questions such as what is the city like and what kind of food they eat there (I have got a coeliac disease, so I can’t eat, for instance, wheat and rye, but luckily they don’t use very much those grains so I’m sure I’ll survive).

A week later we had a Skype conversation and talked about my job description: the two first weeks the children will have holiday so I’d go to primary or high schools for working on other things.  After the holiday I could teach some Finnish songs to the children, play games with them, and teach some lessons. I’m so looking forward to spending time with children! And of course, the African culture, the sun, different habits of life in Uganda, spending time with the other volunteers..  the “WOW” –feeling again! So, it’s quite certain now that I’m going to Uganda in the end of April. I’ll volunteer there 6 weeks and then I’ll come back to Finland for my summer work.

I still have a bit over a month until departure. What have I done already to prepare for the trip? Well, I've renewed my passport, almost taken all of the required vaccinations, been comparing different flights to Uganda on internet sites, and written a long to-do list (should put it into effect!). In the beginning of this week I wrote (or, actually my EP-manager did it) an official application that was sent to the AIESEC of Uganda. Just waiting for the answer and the acceptance note they’ll send to me.

It’s really going to be high time for booking the flights, taking the vaccinations, getting the visa, and listing up different games I could play with the kids. Some people have asked me how I dare to travel alone to foreign country. I see this as a chance for trying my limits and getting to know myself. And, I’ve got lots of AIESECers supporting me both in Finland and in Uganda.

The life is exciting and given us only once - let’s make the dreams true!"

Interested in Global Citizen program? Check out our renewed LC Jyväskylä website, and the Global Citizen in Finland -website for more information on the program and how to apply. Opportunities with AIESEC can be found from the Opportunities Portal. Don't hesitate to ask questions, the contact information -tab will give you tools for that!

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Spring greetings from LC Jyväskylä

 By: Unknown    03:50  LC posts   No comments

The spring term has started off with speed. Here's a brief overview and some info on what to expect this upcoming few months!

Success 2014

SUCCESS 2014, the 4th annual AIESEC in Finland conference will be held this upcoming weekend, 14.-16.3.2014 in Jyväskylä and our LC has been busy preparing for an intense weekend of ideas and innovations. Our awesome and hardworking OC team has done their best to make SUCCESS - well, a success!

Our new team members from our spring team member recruitment have been trained and are starting to get to work in our LC. Their term starts off with a bang organizing a conference right away! In addition to new team members we are currently in the middle of choosing our executive board for 2014-2015. One member has already been voted by the general assembly - hooray!

In OGX LC Jyväskylä is working hard with Global Citizen promotion and recruitment of exchange participants. We have a bunch of events coming up including a movie night and several info stands (with coffee of course!) so stay tuned and up to date with events by liking our Facebook page. You can find out more information and apply to Global Citizen program on the Global Citizen website. Read stories about Global Citizen in Finland or abroad and expect new material on the blog and in Facebook on a weekly basis.

In ICX LC Jyväskylä has gotten to enjoy two CEEDs helping us in arranging team member promotion and talent management as well as the currently ongoing OGX promotion. Our Kindergarten Project EPs have all left Finland and the iGCDP team is currently in the process of restarting the search for new raises for the project. While you wait for fresh content from the EPs read our first participant's story and her kindergarten's story about the project.

That's all the news for now, stay tuned for more content, events and info in the future and have a sunny springtime!

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