Courtesy: Helsinki Times


Men kicking out boundaries

Thursday, 23 April 2009

Men with an immigrant background can sometimes have a hard time finding their place in Finnish society. Football has proved to be an effective tool in bringing both Finns and foreigners together.

It's a friday evening at a sweaty underground sports centre in Hakaniemi. The furthest court from the reception has been reserved tonight for indoor football, also called futsal. The players arrive one after the other just in time for the first match. Some of them look Finnish; others are evidently of African or Middle-Eastern origin. All footballers here are men, mostly in their twenties and thirties.

I manage to have a few words with Abir, a native of Ethiopia, on his short break. "I come here almost every Friday. Football is a great way to relax and prepare oneself for the weekend. We have a nice group here. I enjoy the company," he says before racing off in pursuit of the ball.

This rather informal futsal event is actually part of a project run by the Miessa-
kit association. This male organisation aims to support men’s mental, psychological and social growth. Their website states that they promote gender equality and wish to develop solidarity and mutual help between men. The association runs support groups that help men deal with divorce and the challenges of fatherhood. They also offer therapy for men who struggle with an abusive behaviour.

When foreigners become friends
Miessakit has recently started a support programme for immigrant men and, naturally, football plays a key role in it. The main idea of the project is not only to help men adjust to Finnish culture and society but to bring Finns and foreigners together. The goal is to form a novel forum for multicultural encounters where distinct ways of being a man can be explored. The programme has been titled Vieraasta veljeksi, (From Strangers to Brothers).

“Playing football is fun and the threshold to attend the weekly training session is somewhat low. Our team has players from Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Kurdistan and Zambia. There are a few Finns too,” says project co-ordinator Antti Kaski. "The ideal scenario would be that multicultural futsal would continue even though formal support from the project would end," he adds.

Not everything in the Vie- 
raasta veljeksi project is fun and games. The association also runs more serious groups and workshops that aim to make a deeper impact in the everyday lives of immigrant men. "I could argue that there aren't many integration projects out there with a special concern for men," Kaski points out. "We have focused our programme on men with a refugee background, especially Somalis," Kaski adds.

Adapting men
There are two ongoing bilingual workshops tailored for Somali men. The idea is to learn Finnish by reading about and discussing different aspects of Finnish society with natives. One of the study groups has been targeted for men over 55 years of age. "Acclimatisation to a new country can be quite demanding when you arrive already aged and illiterate," Kaski notes. "In their culture the father is the provider of the family. Here they are too often unemployed and marginalised. Many men have a hard time coping with their new status. This has a heavy emotional impact on many."

The continuation of Vie-
raasta veljeksi project is a bit uncertain because of its periodic funding. Kaski still dares to envision the future: "We could try to work together with local football clubs; both native and immigrant fathers and sons could be involved in playing, organising and training together. Football just brings everyone together!"







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com