Strong roots make us active - Kauhava (Alahärmä) - 29.6. -12.7.22

PARTNER

The local culture history associarion Härmä-Seura is the camp host and there are also several other local associations involved in organising this project. There is a strong local involvement in this project. The theme of the ESC camp is roots and local identity. Härmä, the area where the camp will take place, is famous for its strong local identity and the local people feel that they have strong roots in their home villages. These roots create a lot of grass root activity in the form of restoration of old buildings, taking care of old traditions and running the local theatre, maintaining the nature path and many other things

WORK

Alaviitala was a typical farmhouse where the local court assembled once in a while a hundred years ago. The house was empty for many years and now it has been renovated. There is still some building, cleaning and garden work to do at the site. Kotiseututalo is also a traditional farmhouse that has been renovated and transformed into a museum and a meeting place. The old house, farm buildings and the yard also require some maintenance. One of the former Finnish presidents, J.W. Snellman, used to live in Alahärmä. The place is now a memorial site, which needs some gardening. All of these sites have fascinating history and a strong connection to the identity of the region. The participants can also write short presentations about the sites in their own language.

ACCOMODATION AND FOOD

The accommodation will be in Alaviitala courthouse. There are 2-3 rooms which can be used for accommodating the volunteers as well as kitchen, dining room etc. The participants will need to prepare their own breakfasts, dinners and snacks. Lunch will be served at the working sites.

LOCATION & LEISURE ACTIVITY

Alaharma village is part of the city of Kauhava. It is situated in Western Finland. The nearest bigger cities are Seinäjoki and Vaasa. Kauhava is a lively rural area with agriculture and small and medium size industry.

You can find tourism information here.

Vaasa and Kokkola airports are the nearest airports, but the public transport connections are not good. We recommend flying to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and taking the train to Härmä (or Kauhava). The train ride from Helsinki to Kauhava/Alahärmä takes about 3,5 hours. If you take the ferry from Umeå, Sweden to Vaasa, you can take the bus from Vaasa to Kauhava/ Alahärmä.

Train tickets and timetables: https://www.vr.fi/en

Bus tickets and timetables: https://www.matkahuolto.fi/

Transportation connections guide: http://www.visitkauhava.fi/en/visit_kauhava/about_us/transportation_connections

REQUIREMENTS

This project is supported by the ESC program and open for 18-30 year old from EU countries and Ukraine. Participation is free of charge, as well as board and lodging. Volunteers need to stay the full duration of the project in order to get their pocket money (5 euros per day) and travel cost reimbursed (20-360 euros depending on the distance). Due to covid-19 pandemic all the volunteers need to have certificates of their full series of approved covid-19 vaccinations or a certificate of earlier covid-19 infection less than 6 months ago. Participants have be able to ride bikes because they will ride to the work sites by bicycles.

Project is full.