International students of Ruokolahti's Step education are looking for local friends

Would you like to get to know new cultures and people easily and at the same time help students who have moved to the Imatra region get to know the local language and culture?

The city of Imatra and the Ruokolahti unit of Step education are looking for people in the Imatra region who would like to get to know foreign students. In the friendship activity familiar from LUT University, students get to know local families and individuals and meet them informally.

21 of Step's Ruokolahti students have stated that they want to have a local friend or family of friends.

Training manager Marika Lehvonen A large number of people interested in Step training say that there is an order for local friends.

- Students really want to get to know Finns and local culture. 

Lehvonen believes that friendship activities promote the well-being and attachment to South Karelia of students with an immigrant background and their close circle.

- This is a great opportunity to increase dialogue between people from different cultures, Lehvonen states.

Students interested in friendship activities are mainly young people from Myanmar (Burma) studying to become care assistants. They study in Finnish in a program that does not require perfect Finnish language skills. In addition to professional studies, they receive Finnish language instruction, which is half of the studies. Some of the students also have family members with them, such as spouses and children.

There are also some Ukrainians studying Finnish at home who are interested. The age range of students is 18 – 40 years. 

The initiative for friend activities was made by the marketing manager of Imatra Base Camp Oy Katri Storhammar, who has personal experience of friendship activities. The Thai student who got to know Katri's family has been in the family's life for half a year.

- Getting to know a student from abroad has been a nice experience. You don't have to take pressure from meetings and things to do, but at its easiest it can just be messaging and exchanging information. I hope that through friendship activities we can help students to take root in South Karelia and thus attract new residents to the area, says Storhammar.

Those who participate in friendship activities are supported with voluntary training organized by the Imatra branch of the Finnish Red Cross.

- You don't need any special skills to start making friends. If you feel you need support, SPR organizes one evening training for those participating in the friendship activity at the turn of October-November, says the chairman of SPR's Imatra department Jouko Juvonen.

The course is free of charge and taking it is not a condition for participating in the friend activity.

The friend activity will be tried in the Imatra region initially with the Ruokolahti unit of Step education.

- I hope the friendship activity will expand to other educational institutions in the region, once experiences have been gained from the experiment with the Step training, participation coordinator of the city of Imatra Heikki Laine hopes

The last day to register for friend activities is 25.10. The city of Imatra and Step training will connect students and registered volunteers and organize a joint meeting for them with Step training on November 18.

Read more about international friendship activities: imatra.fi/ysvättoimitti

For more information:

education manager Marika Lehvonen, Step-koulutus, tel. 040 842 4191, marika.lehvonenstep.fi (marika[dot]lehvonen[at]step[dot]fi)
marketing manager Katri Storhammar, tel. 020 617 6677, katri.storhammarimatra.fi (katri[dot]storhammar[at]imatra[dot]fi)
chairman Jouko Juvonen, Imatra SPR department, phone 050 439 6006, jouko.jt.juvonengmail.com (jouko[dot]jt[dot]juvonen[at]gmail[dot]com)
participation coordinator Heikki Laine, phone 200 617 2321, weak. waveimatra.fi (heikki[dot]laine[at]imatra[dot]fi)