youth services of the city of Oulu and BusinessOulu.

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1 HOMELIKE OULU FEELING AT HOME IN OULU Homelike Oulu project has been developing guidance and counselling services for foreigners during the initial stages of integration. The project was implemented during and was directed to all foreigners living and settling in Oulu or considering moving to Oulu, regardless of their background. The target group also includes service providers and policy makers from the city of Oulu. The project has been funded by the European Social Fund, the Centre for economic development of the northern Ostrobothia and the city of Oulu. It has been implemented by the central administration, social and health care services and youth services of the city of Oulu and BusinessOulu. The project has developed service processes and the supporting communication in the early stages of integration and has also tried to add a multicultural point of view to the city s core services. In addition operating models aimed at foreigners for business consultation services, work life guidance and career workshop activities for young people have been created. The aim of the project has also been improving the networking and shared strengths of the people working with foreigners via various trainings and other functions. Multicultural activity center in Villa Victor will act as the focal point of the cooperation network and will continue to coordinate some of the activities. The results of this project will be explained in more detail in the articles of this insert. The project staff includes project manager Heini Rosqvist, work training developer Marguerite Guibert, youth career counsellor Mirjami Ndiaye, entrepreneur consultant Henry Koivukangas and service specialist Elina Haverinen. The director is International Relations Manager Anne Rännäli-Kontturi. Once again the valuable work of former staff members and partners is acknowledged. THE CITY OF OULU WELCOMES ITS NEW RESIDENTS The new Oulu will be formed when five municipalities Haukipudas, Kiiminki, Oulu, Oulunsalo and Yli-Ii merge together in The city of Oulu wants to develop new Oulu as a vibrant and lively center of the north. Internationality, diversity and sense of community are a fundamental part of this liveliness. The right to, as well as the responsibility of, a good quality of life belongs to all. Each one of us can open our everyday lives to a new resident of Oulu, irrespective of land of origin. In the new Oulu the number of foreign language speaking population is over 4600 people, which is about 1000 people more than in the year The foreign population of Oulu is very diverse. The reasons for moving to Oulu include family, work, education and safety from war or conflict. The most prominent challenges that a foreigner moving to Finland and Oulu faces, have to do with entering the country, managing everyday life, language, income, education and work, as well as becoming a part of the community. The most effective way of integration is interacting with the native/local population. Homelike Oulu -project was first introduced in the year 2008 when the number of foreign-speaking residents started to increase. The services supporting immigration needed to be developed according to the needs of people moving to Oulu for different reasons. The project has also prepared for the new law on promotion of integration and its requirements commenced in The law has been expanded to apply to all foreigners moving in to Finland, whereas previously it only concerned a part of them. The aim of this law is to support the integration of foreigners and to make it easier for them to be an active part of the community. It is especially intended to improve the early stage guidance and counselling: every individual is given information about the Finnish community, working life and the rights and responsibilities of a citizen. The role of municipalities and the state is vital for preparing services and preventing discrimination. The law obligates the municipalities to prepare an integration plan to be used in the planning. This program is being drafted in Oulu at the moment, and it outlines the objectives, challenges, procedures, resources and the necessary cooperation with various partners. The plan will be approved by the city council. The execution, monitoring and check up will be joined into the yearly implementation of the city s strategy and budget. Deputy Mayor Ms. Sinikka Salo, City of Oulu

2 MULTILINGUAL INFORMATION MAKING THINGS EASIER IN THE BEGINNING Homelike Oulu project has been developing guidance and counselling services and material for foreigners moving to live in Oulu. In the beginning the information can often be more effectively disseminated in their own language than in Finnish or English. Over the last three years, the project has organized a yearly event called Welcome to Oulu in Oulu10 service point to introduce the city s services to newcomers. Universities, some organizations and associations, and authorities such as tax office have been participating in the event as well. The event will continue to be organised, on a yearly basis. The project has also been involved in developing the city s web site in English and has joined Oulu in the national web portal Info Bank ( fi). Info Bank provides information about Oulu in six languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Finnish, Russian and Somali. More general information on Finnish society is provided in 15 languages. In addition, the project has translated and produced customer service material in several languages for the departments of the city. In addition to the Department of Education and the Daycare Services, for instance Oulu City Library and Substance Abuse Prevention Centre have, without legal obligation, taken the opportunity to develop their services with material like this. Library providing multilingual material With the assistance of the project, Oulu City Library has published brochures about its services in 17 languages! In order to obtain a copy, the library staff can be contacted. The brochures can be found at the Homelike Oulu project webpage ( and in the near future, at the library website ( as well. Oulu City Library is cooperating with the Multilingual Library of Helsinki City Library and uses their collections to provide literature packages for the biggest foreign language groups. However, the service is available for all the customers, and anyone can ask the staff for a possibility to order literature in a language desired. Information and assistance related to brochures and loans from Multilingual Library is provided at the main library as well as at the branch libraries. NATIVE LANGUAGE ADVISOR ASSISTS S WITH EVERYDAY MATTERS Since spring 2010, the Oulu10 service point has been providing guidance in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Thai and Turkish. The native language service will be continued in 2012, after the pilot period, organized in cooperation with Homelike Oulu project and Northern Finland Interpreting Service, ends. Jari Partanen, manager of the customer services in Oulu10, reminds that people with foreign background are customers of Oulu10 service point just like everyone else living in Oulu. The native language assistance is broadening the range of services available in Oulu10 and making it easier to reach new customers. Partanen also believes that the new visitors to the service point enrich the work of staff and that the service is affecting the work on Oulu10, in a positive way. In practise, every native language advisor provides guidance once a week for two hours. If a customer cannot visit the advisor in Oulu10 service point, assistance is also provided by telephone and during the service hours. Guidance is provided in English and Finnish, as well. Pornmanee Thuesataya-Sopanen, or Oi as she is usually called, has been working as a native language advisor since the beginning of the pilot project. Thai speaking customers come to see Thuesataya-Sopanen for many different reasons. Many find it hard to understand official text written in Finnish, and also want to avoid any mistakes in understanding them. Some have moved to Finland only a short while ago, and don t know where to start from and where to look for formation. Most of Thuesatayain- Sopanen s customers are women who have questions concerning everyday matters, such as matters related to children. Sometimes they just want a listening ear. Having assisted several customers, Thuesataya-Sopanen sees a clear need for the native language service. In her opinion, the situation, in its totality, has improved remarkably compared to what it was 13 years ago, when she moved to Finland. If you have the courage to come and ask for help, and you are prepared to receive it, everything will be just fine, she believes.

3 ENTREPRENEURSHIP A WAY TO EMPLOYMENT Senior business advisor Henry Koivukangas from BusinessOulu has been the connecting link between Homelike Oulu project and BusinessOulu for the past three years. BusinessOulu offers services to those planning to start or are running their own business. Within the project they have developed methods to advance entrepreneurship amongst the foreigners living in Oulu. Foreigners interested in entrepreneurship have been offered training on several subjects related to self-employment. In addition, they have had a chance to participate in more intensive training programme, organized four to five times a year, which takes them through the entire path of entrepreneurship. Most of the meetings were held in English, but some sessions also in Arabic, Chinese and Russian. Entrepreneurship was encouraged also by business plan competition, starting off with training in summer 2010 and ending in February 2011 when the best contestants were rewarded with monetary prizes and free business consultation days. Also a written start-up package, providing simple information on the basics of starting a business, was put together for those interested in selfemployment. The package is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, Finnish and Russian. However, Koivukangas hasn t been organizing all this alone. He mentions especially the valuable help of customer service specialist Elina Haverinen from BusinessOulu. Koivukangas has a clear opinion on why supporting entrepreneurship amongst foreigners is needed: In Finland a competent person, who doesn t speak Finnish perfectly, struggles to find work. Even if language skills wouldn t matter that much at a particular job, the foreigner won t be hired if the employers can find a Finn to do the work. Koivukangas is hoping that people would be realistic when recruiting; many jobs can be done even if Finnish skills aren t perfect. Actually, also Finns should learn to accept foreigners, not just foreigners to speak Finnish, he states. BusinessOulu has been offering services to foreigners even before the cooperation with Homelike Oulu. According to Koivukangas, the project has, however, provided excellent networks which have made it easier to disseminate information. It has also encouraged them to model their work and create working methods which can be used after the project has ended. The plan is to continue to provide training in different languages, the start-up package will be updated when necessary, and the business plan competition will be held every second year. All in all the work has paid off, and new companies were born for example in the fields of event planning, design, and marketing. Koivukangas reminds that in the end succeeding always depends on the person him/herself: The fact that someone succeeds is up to that person, not us. We are just one factor out of many. HOMELIKE OULU FACTS & FIGURES foreign nationals (2,5 % of population) foreign language speakers (3 % of population) 112 different nationalities 50 people acquiring Finnish nationality yearly 10 new companies started through the project 300 participants in entrepreneurship training 160 participants in Finnish language and IT courses 70 participants in youth workshop 180 clients in native language advisory service (top 3 questions: work, residence permits, education)

4 INTERNATIONAL BACKGROUND IS AN ASSET French architect Philippe Gelard has been running his own business, Oulubased architecture and design office Philippe G, for about two years now. Gelard s plan came third in the business plan competition, organized by BusinessOulu and Homelike Oulu project, in February Gelard first arrived in Oulu as an exchange student in Life took him to Japan and around Europe for a little while, but eventually he returned to Oulu via Helsinki. Gelard, who has worked is several places, tells that since he has a lot of ideas and enthusiasm to put them into practise, he has always been planning to have his own business one day. BusinessOulu and Homelike Oulu started their work to encourage entrepreneurship amongst foreigners in 2008, and also Gelard received help to start his own business. He met other new entrepreneurs and took part in training events. The assistance helped me to see what I can do, how to do it, and what my personal values are, Gelard says. His office Philippe G saw the daylight in Gelard is hoping to show people that good living is available for everyone, and that cooperation with an architect really gives added value to a house. The most important thing shouldn t be the house itself, but the atmosphere and the suitability for the customer. He is also emphasizing the responsibility of architects to offer people choices, and active participation of people themselves in the planning process of their environment. In business, Gelard stresses the importance of good business plan: it is a map to realize your vision. Gelard says he participated in the business plan competition to update his own plan and was motivated by the free consultation days offered for the winner. Even though his plan wasn t the winning one, he highly values the guidance he was given. Gelard admits that it is not always easy to be a foreigner, but on the other hand, you have a chance to offer something new. Gelard himself has understood the meaning of his own background to his business, and Philippe G office is, for instance, offering services to those in France who wish to have a Finnish wooden house. Language skills and knowledge about the two cultures have proved to be very useful in his work. Foreigners bring new ideas with them. Nowadays you need to be open to new ways of seeing and doing things and foreign entrepreneurs can help with this. Entrepreneurs also create new jobs, and through work foreigners integrate much better, Gelard says. According to him, one of the best things that can happen to a foreigner is to be encouraged to become an entrepreneur. BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR IN OULU? Business counselling for foreigners in start ups and business acceleration. Contact: Merja Aikio service advisor merja.aikio@business.oulu.comoulu.com

5 SETTING A COURSE FOR LIFE As a part of Homelike Oulu project, youth workshop Wieteri has offered help with education and career planning for about 70 young foreigners. In all five groups were organized, each lasting a little over four months and meeting every weekday. A more open activity centre model was tested as well. At the moment Wieteri is a workshop without walls, meaning that the participants start their traineeships right away in other work places or workshops with Finnish youth. The target group of Wieteri is unemployed young people, between the age of 17 and 25, with no vocational training. Counsellor of the workshop, Mirjami Ndiaye, tells that getting into a school is difficult if the educational background doesn t match the requirements in Finland. However, many jobs could be learned by doing, and according to Ndiaye, for example apprenticeship training would be an ideal solution. In Wieteri the participants have searched for an individual career path with the assistance of the mentors. In a group they have studied Finnish, learned handicrafts, got to know the rules of working life, visited different places, and practised skills of everyday life. Many kinds of challenges are usually part of youth, but in Wieteri different backgrounds of young people are also taken into consideration. The young foreigners don t, for instance, have similar knowledge about the educational system and work opportunities as Finnish youngsters do. Also language skills might still be poor, and for many, the workshop model itself and working in a multicultural group are new experiences. On the other hand, the group provided peer support as many of the young are lonely, and some don t know where their family members are at the moment. Inspite of the challenges, there have been positive outcomes. Some of the participants got a job, a traineeship position, started vocational studies or finished studies they had started earlier. Some got a place on a language course or in high school for adults. Regarding everyday life, activeness took other forms as well; some found new hobbies, for example. Alireza Safdari, who moved from Afghanistan to Finland six years ago, participated in the workshop in Nowadays he is living in Vantaa with his wife and children. Safdari is very pleased with the time he spent in Wieteri, especially with the opportunity to learn about different fields of work. He himself became interested in maritime studies, decided to apply, and got a study place in Rauma, where he finished a basic degree in seafaring. Since Safdari only has alien s passport, and therefore is not able to work on ships sailing abroad, he decided to study for another vocation. This August he started studies in automobiles and small machinery in Vantaa. It might not be easy to find work, but I won t just stay home, Safdari says. If it is necessary, he is also prepared to study more. The new youth workshop centre of the city of Oulu will be opened in Kasarmi area in At the moment services at Byström s house bring together a range of professionals who offer support for young people. Also Homelike Oulu s subproject MANO, a guidance project for young foreigners, will work on supporting especially the education and employment possibilities. MANO will continue to develop the guidance practices till More information: vuotias maahanmuuttajanuori Meiltä saat apua, että löydät sinulle sopivan koulun tiedät, mitä haluat tehdä opiskelusi onnistuisivat Meiltä saat tietoa Oulun kouluista tietoa, mitä voit opiskella Oulussa tietoa eri ammateista Tarja Tikkanen, , tarja.tikkanen@ouka.fi Päivi Vatka, , paivi.vatka@ouka.fi Meillä on päivystysaika joka maanantai kello Tuirantie 5, Oulu, Löydät meidät myös facebookista!

6 TARGET COURSES SUPPORTING EVERYDAY LIFE Learning Finnish and taking care of everyday matters independently have been supported by Homelike Oulu project by organizing Suomistartti and IT target courses for foreigners. The courses also improve possibilities to move on to regular studies or working life. The intensive Suomistartti basic Finnish course has been organized altogether ten times in International Activity Centre in Villa Victor. Demand for free Finnish courses is sometimes high as only unemployed job seekers are entitled to employment agency s language ge courses, and some might have to queue to get a place on one of them. Sallie Wanji, who moved from Cameroon to Finland in 2008, participated in Suomistartti course in spring Wanji is studying in the University of Jyväskylä in Development and International Cooperation master s programme, but lives in Oulu with her fiancé. In her studies and at home she uses English and French, so learning Finnish hasn t been that urgent. Even though Suomistartti was relatively short, Wanji says she did have time to learn the everyday language, which in her opinion is the basis for more advanced language skills. She thinks knowing the language makes life easier, and since she will soon finish her studies and have more time, she is considering continuing her language studies. Basic computer skills, such as word processing and using Internet, were studied on month-long courses in residents house Katoppa in the city centre. Due to a request presented by the Sudanese society of Oulu, first course was organized for housewives, who many times are not participating in integration activities. Learning computer skills supports their possibilities to take care of their own errands independently. Besides housewives, the next two courses were also aimed at pensioners and disabled with foreign background. On eve- ry course, the syllabus was planned accord- ing to the start- ing level of participants, and Finnish was practised while learning computer skills. Sudanese Lucia Olam was one of the participants on the first course. Olam and her band have lived in Finland for eight years husand all four children were born in Oulu. During the course, women were able to leave their children with a baby-sitter, and Olam says that without the babysitting it would have been very difficult for her to participate. She is very pleased with the skills they were taught and is using them regularly nowadays. Since all her children are now in daycare and she is registered as a job seeker, she has been able to enroll for a Finnish course via employment agency. After the course Olam is planning to move on to nursing studies. The IT teaching in residents house Katoppa has been organized by IT educator Matti Svala and IT instructor Joonas Nikkilä. Svala tells that Katoppa had been providing computer courses on different levels earlier as well, and they have a possibility to tailor separate courses for foreigners also in the future, if needed. Residents houses of course offer other activities as well, and everyone is welcome to join in, Svala adds. Welcome to oulu - Guide for foreigners WELCOME TO OULU - GUIDE FOR FOREIGNERS Homelike Oulu compiled a guide for foreigners containing practical information on public services such as housing, employment, education, health and various authorities. The guide aims to help foreigners find their way through the Finnish system and make it a bit easier to settle in, and for Oulu to feel like home. The guide is available online in english, russian, chinese and arabic on the International activity centre Villa Victor homepage.

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8 VILLA VICTOR A VIBRANT MULTICULTURAL CENTRE The city s International activity centre and the Oulu Settlement s multicultural Friendship House can now be found under the same roof in Villa Victor. The house is an open meeting place offering language courses, information sessions on living in Finland, a variety of clubs, courses and cultural events as well as cultural mediators and training in multicultural issues. Welcome! Villa Victor Address: Kirkkokatu 54, Heinäpää Texts and pictures: Tanja Vallo and Homelike Oulu