Episode 96
Mieli Without Borders representative Kami Fodor meets Mastering Finland’s Matt Bowen in the latest episode of the podcast. Mieli is one of the oldest mental health support organisations in the world, based in Finland and has a very strong track record.
Kami originally comes from Hungary, has recently finished her university degree in social services and took part in the European Volunteer Service scheme which took her first to Italy and later to Lahti, Finland in 2017 aged around 20/21.
Arriving in a city famous for it’s ski jumps, Matt asks her if landed smoothly or with a bump? At first Kami says everything was very smooth as she was taking part in an 11 month program involving schools and youth work with teenagers with mentors and most things taken care of, including starting to learn the language. However, at the end of the program Kami chose to stay on and everything became a bit bumpier. She describes her struggles with the Finnish bureaucracy labyrinth, finding her financial means to live, getting a flat, completing applications to study here. However to Finland’s credit she describes the Finnish processes around immigration as being easier than Italy’s. Since arriving in Lahti, Kami has lived in and around Helsinki and the southern region including Vantaa and Espoo.
Matt asks Kami more about her journey learning the Finnish language. Kami started when she first arrived in Lahti and people were kind and supportive, and over the years Kami has learnt lots by immersing herself as much as possible, speaking when she can,following Finnish social media, TV and radio shows. Kami tells Matt that her favourite TV show at the moment is Perjantai Dokkari on YLE.
‘Mieli’ is the Finnish word for ‘mind’, whilst Mieli Ry is the oldest mental health organisation in the world, with a huge network across Finland and 24/7 crisis line. Mieli Without Borders offers many of the same services and is targeted at foreign language speakers in Finland, seeking to make mental health support more accessible and less stigmatized.
The results of a recent survey #IamSuomiToo have shown that many internationals don’t know where to turn to in a time of crisis and reported that there were no materials and no information available and accessible to them.
Matt shares some of his experiences of Finland and says that people trust the system too much, only knowing the parts of it that they encounter, so may not be aware of wider systemic failures either further up or wider across. In a deeply personal moment he explains some of his own issues with burnout and how mental health issues have impacted on his immediate family. It can be very easy to fall into a hole and not know how to get out of it. Matt echoes what many guests have told Mastering Finland Podcast about their experience here – if you don’t ask for help when you need it, you won’t get it.
A useful reflection from Kami is that Finnish culture and society encourage people to be as independent as they can but this approach can let people fall flat on their face. Thankfully Mieli Without Borders are one of the organisations seeking to help people in these situations.
As the interview draws to a close, more results of the survey are discussed as is the need for mental health support to become a fuller part of the integration process for internationals.
Matt asks Kami what are her 3 tips for Mastering Finland to look after your mental health:
- Go out in nature – enjoy fresh air, daylight and open space
- Connect with others – see friends, meet people, make connections and join groups.
- Practice sports and activities that have a bit of a challenge for you that you can achieve or work towards e.g. run 5km, learn to ice skate, climb a mountain, learn to play an instrument
If you want to know more, check out the links to Mieli Without Borders and follow their Instagram
Mieli Without Borders:
https://mieliwithoutborders.fi
Survey link:
Instagram link:
https://www.instagram.com/mieli_without_borders