A Staff mobility visit to the UEF
By Sacky M. Iipinge and Shiwana T. Naukushu
In this blog, we reflect on our journey and stay in Finland because of the Staff Mobility exchange under the FUTE project which was funded by the Erasmus+. On the 23 March 2025 we boarded the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing-787. It was quite a peaceful journey; the weather was fine and therefore it was a smooth flight. We were impressed with the high standard services the Ethiopian Airlines offered and treated us with. Upon arrival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia we connected to Stockholm, Sweden and then to Helsinki, Finland.
It was amazing to see how things work in the busy airport of Helsinki, where everything is almost automated. We bought train tickets to Tikkurila to connect to Joensuu. The most interesting thing is that we had to buy tickets from the vendor machine which only accepts the precise price of a ticket. The machine kept refusing the money until we decided to go and look for change, upon getting the change we could still not manage, and this was closer to the departure time of our connecting train.
Later, we were assisted by a good Samaritan who decided to purchase a ticket for us, then we refund her in cash. We then got into the train to Tikkurila, but we were late for the train. We then had to buy tickets for another train that would depart within thirty minutes to Joensuu. While waiting for the train, we came across a family that comprised of a couple and twins (girls), the parents were hesitant to speak to us but the facial gestures from the twins made the mother to listen to our worry, she then directed us until we purchased tickets to Joensuu. When we got in the train we were amazed by the technology in and around it. The comfort was welcoming and the fact that there was Wi-Fi throughout the whole journey was another bonus that allowed us to connect with out families as we travelled to Joensuu. We were also amazed by the forests that existed on either side of the railway line. The ground was covered with snow, very beautiful!
Our enriching experience in Joensuu
When we arrived in Joensuu, it was late afternoon. Prof Sari Havu-Nutinen was ready to pick us up. We enjoyed staring at Joensuu streets covered with snow as we enjoyed the drive to our accommodation places. Sacky was placed in Suvantukatu and Shiwana at Merimehekatu. Prof. Sari Havu-Nutinen told us that in Joensuu people walk and thus we would be required to walk from our accommodations to the University daily. We at first felt awkward as we usually drive to work or around town and back home. As days went by, we got used to the walking as we were fully prepared in terms of the weather. We were also amazed by people riding bicycles which is the most used mode of transport in Joensuu.
We were privileged to visit some teacher training schools, a concept that was fascinating to us because the University owns its teaching schools where pre-service teachers do their practice. We visited a Mathematics as well as a Religious and Moral Education lessons for early primary. Our experience was amazing; teachers were very patient with the learners and the learners were actively involved. We also had a chance to make two presentations one titled “Multicultural Education: The finish and the Namibian historical experience”. In this presentation, we shared ideas on how the Namibian and Finish people share a history which is bound together by missionary work. We also shared a presentation on the role that the Finish people played in Namibia in terms of missionary work, education as well as the health sector. It was amazing to see how things are common, especially in the church songs, there was a song that we sang together, and the melody was the same except only the words. It was an exciting moment to see how we share these in common because of the Finnish missionaries who came to Namibia.
The other experience we had was the escape pedagogy. It was a great experience to have a feel of the escape pedagogy. It was also a good lesson learnt in-deed, where we were exposed to new and innovative pedagogy. We entered the escape room with mixed feeling and curiosity to find out what escape pedagogy is all about. We were impatiently waiting as the staff at the escape pedagogy centre explained. We were given a task to find the pin/password to a safe where a container was kept in 30 minutes. As we went through the activities, things started to unfold so was the excitement. We were super excited to have gotten the task within the minimum time of 15 minutes. It was an exciting experience and a take home lesson that we decided to have a replica of.
We also had a chance to witness a doctoral student defending her thesis. We were impressed by the formality with which the event is treated as everyone was dressed in black and very formal. Though we could not understand the Finnish language, the way the events unfold was both similar and familiar. We however wanted to clap hands as per our culture; however, we were informed that in Finland this was not a common practice.
Trip to Koli and sauna experience
Another exciting moment was the trip to Koli; we were stunned by the natural beauty of the forests. Upon arrival it was very exciting and a bit scary to go in a crane that took us upstairs where we were entertained by a beautiful landscape which filled our day with excitement. We were filled with both joy and anxiety of elevations as both of us had a phobia of height. We enjoyed starring at the beauty of Lake Pielinen as it also treated us with a cold breeze before we were treated with a local delicacy for lunch.
Another scary but ended up an exciting event was the Finnish tradition of a Sauna. We went looking for the swim wear in town prior to the commencement of the journey to the Sauna. As we drove through the streets, we wondered what our experience was going to be swimming in ice for the first time. We were terrified of swimming in ice, though we started building up our confidence. We entered into a sauna, a place where we have never experienced. After staying a couple of minutes, we were more than ready to ice swim. Placing our bodies in the water at 2 OC was our first time experiences. As we went back to the sauna, we felt warm which is relatively because we entered a relatively warmer environment though it was still cold. We have really experienced a body relaxing moment.
Trip back
A night before the departure date was both filled with the fear of missing the connecting trains and flights and yet looking forward to going back home. We were picked up on time and boarded our train without any constraints. We met a Finnish lady who explained to us how to get to the airport. She was going to Spain. We did not learn the hard way as it was the case on our journey to Joensuu. We connected our flights smoothly to Sweden, Ethiopia until Namibia.
All in all, it was a golden opportunity afforded to us and a great deal of learning experience that has not only shaped our academic but personal lives as well. We are grateful for the experience.