Meet Manon !
Volunteer at Allianssi Youth Exchanges, in Helsinki.
While being a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps in Helsinki, Manon put in place her own initiative of solidarity : creating a magazine to help newcomers (and especially foreigners) to feel at home in the capital city of Finland.
The final project “Helsinki Uncovered” consists of a visual magazine as well as a website page. The goal is to give every young person tips, opportunities, initiatives and places to explore to help them integrate in the local life there.
How can you feel home in a place that is not home?
The idea of this magazine project came from Manon and her friends’ experience being volunteers in a foreign country and especially about creating this sense of belonging for yourself in this new home.
It can be challenging to develop it, as “home” is a concept that feels different for everyone, it’s something that you experience but also that you feel.
“It was my first time living abroad as well as my first time coming to Finland. Everything is new and after talking with friends about our common experiences, the culture shock that may arise, the discovery but also the homesick feeling from time to time, we thought that it would be nice to provide other young people something to help them through this process”.
After some time, the aim of the project became clearer and clearer: creating this visual and supportive tool to give it to young people and to help them discover new initiatives and places in Helsinki. While this magazine doesn’t want to be a guide on “How to feel at home?” as it’s different for everyone, it’s one perspective and a start to pick some ideas to start developing yourself this “home feeling” in the city.
Helsinki is full of surprises and even though it’s not exhaustive, the magazine is constructed as a melting-pot of ideas to explore depending on what everyone is looking for about the local and festival life, activism, sustainability, second hand, museums, sports or… coffee places!
The project was created between May 2024 and September 2024 in Helsinki and ended with a launching event on the 30th of September to show the final version during a “Cottage of Cultures” event (a monthly event that Allianssi Youth Exchanges organizes for young people to discover other cultures and create bonds between each other). During the event, participants got to see the magazine but also to get postcards and stickers designed specifically for the project.
“I really enjoyed the process of creating this magazine with the help of a friend, it has been a great opportunity to develop a project from scratch, to learn about creative design, writing a magazine, designing merch but also organizing an event to launch a project”.
This initiative was supported along the CLIC project. C.L.I.C. for “Coordinating Locally in order to Increase More Changes with the European solidarity Corps” is a cooperation partnership we participate in with 9 other like-minded organisations from 9 European countries. Together, we want to increase the impact and the visibility of the European Solidarity Corps in our communities, while providing young people with a strong educational value along their volunteering projects.