Veronika’s project in Finland – Ukrainian gathering

While being a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps in Helsinki, Veronika put in place her own initiative of solidarity.  She organized a gathering for Ukrainian young adults.

The local Ukrainian center that we cooperated with had previously had difficulty reaching this target group. Young adults (18-25) had more difficulty integrating and socializing than children and teenagers, who could meet each other and connect with new people for example through school.

The gathering was organized in October and it was a huge success with around 20 participants. For the event Veronika had created a map for the board game “Ticket to ride”, with Ukrainian cities and routes, so that the map covered all regions of the country and all the participants could find their hometown on the map.

The evening started with a small icebreaker to introduce the participants to each other, as most of them had not met previously. Afterwards the group was split to smaller tables of 4-5 people, and Veronika explained the rules of the game. Two rounds were played, while the participants could enjoy some snacks and take space for networking in between. Other board games were played after.

The goal of Veronika’s project was reached as she managed to connect Ukrainian youth that had difficulties meeting people in a new country. A variety of people from the targeted age groups joined the event. The participants created a group chat to keep in contact in the future, and the local Ukrainian center created a board game club for youth to reach them better for coming events. Some of the young people also joined other international events organized by Veronika’s host organization, Allianssi Youth Exchanges, helping them to continue to meet people from the local community.

Veronika feels the project improved her skills in leadership, negotiation and project management. She feels accomplished that she managed to create a space for Ukrainian youth to speak about integration to Finnish society. She also had interesting dialogue during the event about the international society, possibilities of volunteering abroad and how to make your ideas into something concrete. Veronika is excited to continue creating connections for youth in the future as well with the support of the local organizations.

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.