keskiviikko 12. kesäkuuta 2019

Youth Delegate Training, May 2019

A few kilometers from Heinola, next to the beautiful lake Ruotsalainen, is the Finnish Red Cross Training Centre. The site of the training center houses the old Nynäs manor which was donated to the Finnish Red Cross by Kymin Osakeyhtiö. The training center is now known after the name of the manor, i.e. ‘Nynäs.’ The Training Center is located over a beautiful expanse of the forest which includes facilities for training and accommodation of participants and of course a lakeside sauna. 

Thirty participants are selected to participate in the annual Basic Training course for Future Youth Delegates. This course is conducted every year by the Finnish Red Cross and invites young adults between 18 and 28 years of age. 


After completing the training course, the participants join the Youth Delegate Reserve and have the opportunity to be deployed on Missions. The missions are usually a part of the development framework category, which involves cooperation and development activities with Red Cross National Societies from around the world.

The training this year began on 25th May 2019 and involved almost thirty participants, both from Finland and abroad. The participants from Turku were Mikko, Aliina, Oona, Milla and Ameya. 


The training included both theory and practical exercises. Firstly, the participants are informed of the activities of the Finnish Red Cross. Secondly, the regulatory and operational framework of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the International Committee of Red Cross is discussed. 

There is an array of teambuilding exercises and presentations to develop team cooperation and communication. There are also exercises that allow the participants to gain experience in facilitating workshops. Some practical activities based on team communication were conducted in the serene forest behind the Training Centre. 


The training is intensive but ends up developing an excellent team spirit among the participants. This teamwork was showcased when the participants worked in teams to build a Project for the Finnish Red Cross. Spirits were high during the entire training, and the international participants were enthusiastic about sharing experiences from their own Red Cross National Societies. 

This year the international participants were from Austria, Lithuania and Ukraine. The training course also devoted specific sessions facilitated by the international participants to discuss issues faced by their national societies and what actions they take to tackle them effectively. It was nice to see that the spirit of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement transcends borders and can make people come together and work towards a better society.


Lastly, the session on recognizing privilege was impactful, and the experiences shared by former youth delegates were inspiring. The biggest takeaway from the training was that the Finnish Red Cross has firm roots in both domestic and international humanitarian development activities. The Youth Delegates Training empowers the Future Youth Delegates in assisting the Finnish Red Cross in its local activities within Finland, and it's deployments abroad.

The Youth Delegate Program ensures that the youth is involved within the activities of the Finnish
Red Cross and are working towards building a better world according to the principles and cross-cutting themes of the Red Cross Movement.

Ameya Foujdar
Participant in the Youth Delegate Training 2019