I started working as an Activity Supervisor in Intercultural Center in Runosmäki back in February and the virus has been present every day. Bells in the door ring less and less. Different groups that used to meet in Runosmäki don´t have their meetings and weeks don´t have the same rythm than in the time without Covid. Fortunately we can still do something.

Activity Supervisors and other staff members have been creative. In this case being creative often means making videos on different subjects. We have made videos on cooking, crafts, stories etc. The oriental dance group has moved to online and the music group sends greetings via video. We would be very happy to hear your ideas too. What kind of videos you would like to see on our Facebook page?

Despite all of this summer is coming. I really do hope that the restrictions loosen up a bit and we will be able to go on trips and outings together with all of you in summer. We´ll keep an close eye on the instructions given by the authorities and we´ll let you know when it´s safe to gather together. We have made many plans for the future, so keep your eyes and ears open. News about future activies are coming!

Our door has been kept open and every once in a while somebody comes in. Individual visitors learn English or Spanish with their teachers or practise mindfullness. Someone asks for a piece of advice on a practical problem, somebody else comes to make a donation or just for a coffee and a chat. It has been really nice. Come and visit us also in the future when you happen to walk by, we are here for you.

I wish all of you lots of sunny spring days!

Pauliina Activity Supervisor, Runosmäki Intercultural Center

(Please find the English translation below.)

                          Hace un año desde la llegada del Corona virus a Europa y, para qué nos vamos a engañar, ha sido un año bastante confuso y lleno de incertidumbre para todos. No conozco a nadie que de forma directa o indirecta no haya sufrido las consecuencias de esta pandemia. Es un momento de tristeza y debemos aprender a aceptar nuestros sentimientos sin escapar, reprimir o negar qué están ahí. Esto no significa que no debamos intentar cultivar la alegría y la resilencia en nosotros.

Cultivar la alegría:

-Disfruta de las pequeñas cosas: un paseo, un café, una buena conversación con un familiar o un amigo…

-Date un capricho de vez en cuando: cómprate tu helado favorito, una joya, un vestido o algo que hayas deseado desde hace mucho tiempo.

-Intenta practicar el agradecimiento. Piensa entre 3 y 5 cosas por las que estás tremendamente agradecido. Pueden ser cosas muy pequeñas que no debemos dar por sentadas (un techo, comida, un amigo, un buen estado de salud…)

-Sueña, planea. Si quieres hacer algo como viajar, pero en este momento no puedes hacerlo, recuerda que nadie puede quitarte el derecho a soñar. Ahora puedes desear, planificar y ten fe en que algún día todo aquello que deseas podrá hacerse realidad. Recuerda que esta situación es solo temporal y también pasará.

-Tu manera de ver el mundo. Cómo está el vaso para ti, medio lleno o medio vacío? Tu actitud puede marcar la diferencia, cuándo tengas puestas las gafas de la negatividad, date cuenta y cámbiate de gafas. Las gafas del positivismo te sientan mejor. Si miras con claridad, el vaso siempre estará lleno. La vida está llena de regalos. Vivir es en sí un regalo.

-No te alimentes con noticias negativas. No alimentes la negatividad. Evita hablar todo el tiempo sobre la pandemia y no cuentes constatemente las cifras de personas fallecidas. Esto solo hará que te sientas peor y que caigas en un círculo vicioso de negatividad. Piensa en todo lo que está bien. Piensa en aquello que funciona, y deja de centrarte en todo lo que no va bien.  

-Haz una lista de todo aquello de lo que has conseguido en este último año. Disfruta de tus victorias, grandes o pequeñas y saborea la alegría y la satisfacción de saber que has sobrevivido y has superado todos los retos. Eres el héroe de tu propia historia.

-Haz una lista de las cosas que te han hecho feliz durante este año. Te sorprenderá ver cuántas cosas puedes celebrar en tu vida.

-Haz otra lista de tus buenas cualidades cómo persona. Planea cómo puedes ayudar a otros haciendo un buen uso de tus cualidades. El altruismo es una buena medicina contra la depresión y la sensación de aislamiento.

No te aisles, comparte. La sensación de aislamiento puede causar muchos estragos en la salud mental. Necesitamos el contacto humano y sentirnos queridos. Un amigo puede ayudarnos a sentirnos mejor. Celebra la vida, muchas cosas estarán cerradas, pero la naturaleza y la alegría de vivir siguen abiertas para todos. No lo olvides.

The Covid 19 pandemic started a year ago and one has to say that this has been pretty difficult year for many. I don´t know anybody who hasn´t suffered from this directly or indirectly. This is a sad moment in many ways and we should accept that this is the way things are, that can not be denied. Still we have the choice: We can develop recilience and grow the amount of joy in our lives.

Cultivate joy:

• Enjoy the small things: a walk outside, a cup of coffee, discussion with a friend…

• Pamper yourself: buy your favourite ice cream, a beautiful piece of jewelry or a dress.

• Practice gratitude: come up with three to five things that you are really grateful for every day

• Daydream, make plans. Right now we are not able or allowed to do many things, but you have the right to daydream and make plans. That´s a pleasure too.

• Attitude is important. How is your class of water? If it´s half empty, get a different pair of eyeclasses and you´ll see the world in more positive light. Life is a gift and it´s full of wonder.

• Don´t feed yourself with negativity and bad news. News only feed bad thoughts and fear. Good news don´t sell, but you can focus on the positive and avoid counting the numbers. You don´t have to know how many people are dying in the world. That will make you feel bad.

• Make a list of things that have given you joy during the last year. You can for sure be surprised by how much good there has been.

• Make a list of things that have given you joy during the last year. You can for sure be surprised by how much good there has been.

• Make another list of your qualities and think about how you can benefit others using them. Altruism is medicine and you have much to give to the world.

Share your thoughts and feelings with others, don´t be alone. Many places are closed, but nature and joy of living are allways available.

Hey! My name is Alireza. I´m Iranian and a sociable person.=D

At the moment I´m doing my internship at the Together Association. I think it´s nice to work here because you can be helpfull to  people who need help. I study at ???

My job at the Together Association is that I sometimes teach the staff members how to use Photoshop and if a visitor or a staff member has a problem with computers, Microsoft etc. then I will solve the problem. 

Nico and I started the Junior Club. The amount of participants bacame stable little by little and the kids in the neighbourhood got to know the club. These days we have 10 to 15 kids every week, it´s been nice to do stuff and plan the big picture.

The Information Day has brought a lot of new things to learn and a feeling that I have really been helpfull to people both in every day things and in more complicated cases. I can also remember that not everything goes according to plan every time. When I was helping this one lady with her studies, in came an older Somali woman. She sat down next to a closed computer and looked at me. I smiled and looked back at her.

The Somali lady said KAUNIS (beautiful) and I stood there wondering what is beautiful. The lady looks at me again and again: KAUNIS. I smile and nod at her like a dumb person. The lady looks at me again, she looks a little fustrated this time, and says KAUNIS! I look at her a little fustrated and think WHAT CAN BE SO FRIGGING BEAUTIFUL ABOUT THIS! When the lady once again says KAUNIS, the light finally comes on in my head and I undertand that she wants me to turn on the computer. NOT KAUNIS (beautiful), BUT COULD I KÄYNNISTÄÄ (turn on) THE COMPUTER 😀

I have enjoyed myself here and learned a lot. I can´t even describe how great the community of colleagues is here. Everybody works together and wants to take the association further. The fact that I have found the godfather and godmother of my soon to be born child here tells a lot about how much I like the place and how near and dear my colleaques have become to me.

Juho

The official opening and starting of the croup activities had to be postponed due to Covid-19 but the association put together activities for local residents. Collect the Letter-contest was particularly popular. In the contest people came daily to the door of the Intercultural Center and and collected letters posted on the window to form a sentence. When it was safe to gather outdoors again we started cultivating vegetables in cultivation boxes and took nature walks together. We also put together a group for outdoor activities.

In June we were able to arrange small-scale group activities once a week. New volunteers joined the association and we made many plans for the future. We also went on outings near Runosmäki both with visitors from the new Intercultural Center and together with Varissuo Center. We put together the Summer Cafe when ever possible and got to know the resindents of Runosmäki.

After the summer holidays in August we went on more outings. Many people came along to the island of Seili, Naantali and the old cemetery of Turku. In the end of August we started the group activities for the autumn 2020. Door to the Center was kept open every week day. In autumn 2020 there were 10 different groups in Runosmäki. Friday became the Info Day just like in Varissuo Center.

The Intercultural Center in Runosmäki was finally officially opened on August 28th. 82 people attended the opening festivities. What a success!

During its first year the Intercultural Center in Runosmäki has collaborated with the Henrikki congregation, the Runosmäki Association and different authorities of the city of Turku, among others. Different immigrant associations may gather in the Runosmäki Center free of charge. In the future we hope to be able to work together with these associations as well.

The start of Runosmäki Center could not have been more difficult but now when a new spring has arrived, we can hope that an active summer will be followed by an active autumn.

                      Have you noticed that often you are carried away by your thought stream? Do you constantly worry or think about past or future events? You are not alone. The so called “monkey mind” by buddhists is an unsettle and restless mind, a mind that do things by default. When we do things by default we miss a lot of the beauty of the now. How many times have you drunk your coffee thinking about something else? Where were you while drinking your cup of coffee? Did you enjoy every sip of it? If you pay attention to such matters you will realise that that´s not often the case. But not worries! Mindfulness can give you back the most precious thing of all: the here and the now, your life.

What is mindfulness?

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally,” says Jon Kabat-Zinn. So paying attention is the key to detect the patterns of thinking and dismantle the problem they are creating for us. For example, while you are drinking your coffee you could worry about something in the past or be anxious about a future event. And both, past and future don´t exist. The only thing you have right now if your cup of coffee.

              Sometimes negativity and thoughts of unworthiness strike us: I am not enough, I am an awful person, I should be better, or I should be like my sister or mom or whoever. But is this really true?  Through meditation and practise of Mindfulness you will realise that you are not your thoughts, they are your just events on the field of your awareness, and you don’t need to go along with them. The rumination patterns and negativity pull us very often into low moods and depression. The fact that you don´t identify so strongly with your feelings or thoughts will give you space and freedom, so that you are not carried away by them.

The nine attitudes of mindfulness practise:

1.  Non-judging

(we tend to classify things as good or bad, which narrows our reality quite a lot. Moreover such labels don´t allow us to be with things as they are.). 

2.  Patience 

3.  A beginner’s mind

(see the world with curiosity, as a child. Drink your coffee as if it was the first time)

4.  Trust

5.  Non-striving

(you don´t need to achieve, do things for the sake of things)

6.  Acceptance

(life never goes as we want, so by practising acceptance we can decrease the resistance that leads to suffering)

7.  Letting go

(don´t hold on things that are in the past, feelings or thoughts. Practise letting go, nothing belongs to us)

8.  Gratitude (Can you feel the power of gratitude? There is so much be can be grateful about: having a home, having food, clean water… Are we taking these things too much for granted? Feel how rich you are…)

9.  Generosity 

(give as much as you can, not material things… This refers to time and care… Dedicate yourself to improve other people´s lives, even in small ways, and observe what happens to you and your own life)

How can we practise mindfulness?

There are formal ways of practising, such as sitting meditation, laying down meditation or walking meditation, but actually there are many more ways in which you can do it informally. Basically everything you do in your everyday, if you do it mindfully becomes mindfulness. It can be brushing your teeth, if you pay attention to the way your brush feels in your mouth, sensations of cold, etc. You can eat mindfully, paying attention to every bite of your meal, feeling the sensations that it triggers and how it feels in the different parts of your digesting system.

Being more mindful could keep you happier and healthier, among the benefits of mindfulness we can find anxiety reduction, prevention and treatment of depression (also prevention of possible relapses), improvement of cognition and concentration and stress reduction.

What are you waiting to give it a try?

– Carmen –