I had to do something different this year. I couldn’t just stay home and stuff myself with turkey. So as soon as I heard about the Christmas party for poor and homeless I volunteered. Now you are thinking she is officially crazy. She is so into all these charity events that she needs help. That is not it. Don’t worry. I am still sane.

It was quite an event. There were close to hundred volunteers. My friend and I were two of them. We started at 8 am. First we had to fill up Christmas bags with food and clothes to be handed out later. Then we made sandwiches and set tables. In four hours we were ready. The doors opened at noon and more than 500 people came in. It was amazing. I was surprised how few immigrants there were. Yes, there were a lot of Russians but most of the quests were just somehow abandoned by the society.

All guests received a full Christmas meal. On the way out they were given more food and clothes to be taken along. I was in charge of the coffee table. It was heart-breaking to see how people took Christmas pastries and tried to put them into pockets and bags without anybody noticing. I stopped them and asked if they wanted the whole roll or the cake in an unopened bag. My offer was always unexpected so you can imagine their grateful faces and expressions. It really made them happy and that made my day. That was the reason why I had volunteered. Unfortunately there were some guests, mainly from our neighbor country, who tried to steal everything – food, flowers, etc. At first it made me mad but after a while I realized we had more than enough of everything so why not let them take them. After all it looked like they were taken for need.

What amazed me the most at the party were the people who I worked with. It wasn’t quite what I had expected. Like I had assumed many volunteers seemed to have religion as a big part of their life. What surprised me the most were the middle aged women who seemed to have some challenges in their own lives. Then again there weren’t really any qualification tests to get in. At first I was surprised and then furious to see how much they stole from the load. For example while in one side of the table we were making sandwiches and putting cheese and ham inside, on the other side there was a lady who was taking the cheese off and putting them into her own bag. Then while cutting cakes on the table, this lady was stuffing unopened bags into her bag again. In some level I can understand stealing from a store, but stealing from homeless and poor was unbelievable. Again I had to think that this lady needed it so much that it was acceptable.

It wasn’t a usual Christmas. First of all I was home after I don’t know how many years. Second I got to make someone else’s Christmas brighter. After the conscience clearer start I went to my moms to eat turkey, traditional pots made of potatoes and carrots, and different kinds of fish. Later at night we drove to my brothers to wait for Santa. And like in so many Christmases before Santa came with loads of presents. Even though I had seen the other side few hours earlier, it felt good seeing children’s faces while opening presents. I know we live in a materialistic world. We don’t need to feel bad that things are good with us. All we need is to remind ourselves every once in a while that there are people out there who don’t have what we have. And it doesn’t take much to lend them a hand and make them feel better - at least once a year.

I will be leaving on Thursday January 17th. I am arranging a going away party on Saturday the 12th starting at 6 pm at my moms. Everyone is welcome.

So since September I have started to plan my year 2008. My project keeps changing day after day and some things haven’t been organised the way I have planned. But already now I have learned that things won’t be so organised in Africa so better get used to it here in Finland.

The project itself is quite interesting. I will evaluate all the teachers’ collages physical education programme in Tanzania. There are 32 of them. The research will include evaluation of the level of education itself and in sports, students (age, sex, origin), school resources (variety of sports, fields, equipment) and other important facts (accessibility, library, internet, sponsors, partners around the world and so on). I will do this with a local researcher. The plan is to visit each school for one day. Since the rain season starts in March we need to finish the tour before that. To take local road conditions into account the tour will take about 10 weeks. So we will be in a bit hurry. During the rain season roads make it impossible to travel so in the worst scenario our research will take few extra months.

After the college tour there will be a proposal to select 3-5 schools feasible for the sports development programme implemented in 2009-1012. The bigger goal is to get more qualified sports teachers for the Tanzanian primary schools. During the resent studies there has been a clear connection between the school sports support and academic performance. The gender equity also improves as well as the healthy lifestyles.

So I will do the research by April. Then I will hopefully settle in one of the schools and teach there. The place where I will have my “home” is in Butimba, Northwest Tanzania. There I will be teaching physical education for teachers and hopefully for kids too. Most likely the content of my job will become clear when I get there.

To leave for a year especially to a third world country is not as easy as you could imagine. First there are things that need to be organised here in Finland and then there are things that need to be organised to get true the year in Africa. Renting my apartment is probably the hardest. To empty an apartment where you have lived for 13 years only to realise that you do have a problem with throwing things away is one thing. To find a place for your stuff is another. Then there is lots of paperwork to do and phone calls to make to end mail or get your bills paid while you are gone. Not to mention the insurance and vaccinations you need to take. It is interesting how much it costs to get you insured for a year if you are travelling to a third world country. And it makes you wonder the need for it after getting so many shots of poison to such illnesses you have never heard of. The amount of poison I have in my body after taking at least ten shots makes me wonder will my blood ever be red again. And then the malaria pills. I won’t even go there.

The most interesting thing this trip has made me to do is to start me studying Swahili. Swahili is the most spoken language in Eastern Africa even though many people speak English. But to be able to teach kids I wanted to learn Swahili. I found a Tanzanian man who is married to a Finn and he gives me lessons twice a week until I leave. It is great. I am very excited.

I have always wanted to volunteer and do something meaningful either in Africa or in Latin America. I like to think that there is something bigger in the world waiting for me. As naïve as it sounds but I feel that there has to be some other purpose for my life than spend it fighting over a matter should kids under 8 years old have championships or not. You can call it a 30-year crisis if you want but I call it a chance of a lifetime.