User:Rusalotjka/The Model of Nagu

The Model of Nagu is an integration concept describing a situation, where locals actively include refugees or immigrants in activities and events that are taking place in the community.

Origin
In october 2015 the Finnish Red Cross opened a temporary reception centre for refugees in the premises of Hotel Strandbo in Nagu. Nagu is a former municipality in the southwest of Finland, now part of the city of Pargas. Over 100 asylum seekers were housed in Nagu over the winter. The Model of Nagu concept was introduced within a few weeks of the arrival of the refugees, when both national and international media started reporting that the reception of the refugees in Nagu was a success.

Volunteering
Before the opening of the reception centre the Red Cross and the Finnish Police invited the locals to a meeting. At this first meeting it was decided that the Red Cross would aid the volunteering work by opening a group in social media to ease communication between staff at Hotel Strandbo and the locals that wanted to help out. This group became the main channel for organising wast projects involving volunteers, such as assembling beds and bunk beds for everyone and collecting hygiene products packed into personal giftbags for men, women and children. When the camp opened the social media group was used by the staff as a means of asking the locals for diapers, under wear, footballs, bicycles and so on.

The Red Cross also arranged a "Friend Class" before the opening of the camp, where anyone interested in helping out could learn more about volunteering. During this class a silent decision among the people present was made. The locals would say hello to everyone they met, even if they met them for the first time. The people of Nagu quickly started calling the newly arrived for "Strandboare" (Swedish for "the Strandboers") from day one, not "the refugees".

To avoid an uncontrollable amount of donations of clothes and other items at the reception at Hotel Strandbo two "flea markets" were organised where anyone who had clothes, toys or other things to spare put their things on display at the local community hall Framnäs. The Strandboers could walk around and choose what ever they needed for free or for a symbolic prize.

Two volunteers asked the community for help with putting together a long list of all the weekly activities in Nagu taking place during the winter. The list included the program of the local sports club, the congregation, the Marthas and all the evening art, handicraft and sports classes arranged by the municipality. A few open spots per activity where declared free of cost and presented to the Strandboers, who could pick a class for themselves and their children. The first time someone was to take part in a new hobby, they were picked up at the reception by one of the locals going to that same activity. All this was organised through social media.

The congregation, clubs and associations like Multiculti, Folkhälsan, the Youth association and the Martha association actively invited the Strandboers to any event taking place in Nagu, but extra events like concerts, walks, handicraft circles and dinners were also organised so that the Strandboers would have even more chances to meet with the locals. Many locals invited the Strandboers to private boat and fishing trips. The children at Strandbo were attending school and The Red Cross organised a Finnish course for the grown-ups, where a few locals helped out as extra teachers daily. The Strandboers were invited to try the sauna and winter swimming in the marina and some of them started attending regularly. At one of the cafés a local opened a "free cup list", where anyone could list an extra cup of coffee or tea that they had already paid for. This made it possible for the Strandboers to drop by for a cup like anyone else.

When the reception centre at Strandbo was closed in april 2016 the local community came together and funded private housing for some of the families from Strandbo that wanted to stay in Nagu rather that move to a new camp someplace else.

The Model of Nagu in the media
In the local media Åbo Underrättelser, Yle Vega and Turun Sanomat the reception centre for over 100 asylum seekers in a village with about 500 inhabitants quickly became big news. The news from papers, radio and Finnish national TV were spread and Nagu attracted freelance reporters from many places. When the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNHCR, in Geneva heard about the positive news from Nagu they sent war photographer Giles Duley to Finland. Mr. Duley's visit resulted in reports for The Guardian.

Volunteers from Nagu were invited to speak at different seminars, also to a UNHCR meeting in Brussels. Several organisations and researchers visited Nagu to learn more about the model and the city of Pargas has been sharing its experiences from Nagu in many different contexts.

The pictures from Nagu taken by Giles Duley have been on display in photo exhibitions, but also been included in a slide show displaying during concerts of the British band Massive Attack.