“On October 6th, I boarded my plane to Finland, where I would be spending my time in the capital of Finland, Helsinki. In Helsinki, two fellow students and also my roommates waited for me at the airport. They were already 2 months in Helsinki because they currently study at DIAK, a university in Helsinki. The first couple days of my stay I went to explore Helsinki, together with my two local guides. I saw most of Helsinki, at least that is what I thought. Soon I realised there is much more to see. That day we went to the Helsingin ‘tuomiokirkko’, this is a cathedral near the harbour of Helsinki and a beautiful building.”

“On October 8th, my internship at Iceheart started. The night before, I was quite nervous about what I could expect. Fortunately, the next morning, I was rested and looking forward to the meeting. But this was a short experience of joy because I missed my bus, and I was eager to leave a good first impression. And not one where I’m late, but luckily the next bus showed up on time, and the organisation didn’t mind. In the first meeting at Iceheart, I met Harri and Mikko. I knew Mikko would be my supervisor and Harri is a team leader of multiple teams. When I stepped in the door, I got a warm welcome and immediately felt at home. We went into an office to store my bag and coat and went for a quick snack, where I went to meet some other co-workers. Back in the office, the conversation started, and he gave me some Icehearts clothing for the duration of my stay. After the meeting and lunch, Mikko and I went to the school where I would be working from.”

“Mikko has a team of 12 boys around the age of 10, these boys have some difficulties interacting with other classmates or need extra support due to their behaviour. Mikko supervises the same team for 12 years. When the boys are around 6 years old, they get a chance to get in the team and from there on, Mikko is a part of their lives. This is the way an Iceheart team is set up. In these 12 years, Mikko is there for them in the school, helping them. After school, he does all sorts of things with the boys. On Mondays, they go for a swim, on Tuesdays and Thursdays they play football and Wednesday and Friday are relaxing days. I will give you a summary of all the crazy activities we do because there are a lot of them.”

“In the second week of my internship, there was a holiday camp with the team, and I was also invited. On Monday morning we started at the school and went for a drive to a house in the woods close to a lake. It was beautiful! The site belonged to a friend of Mikko, that friend is a leader of the scouting, so Mikko could use the place for that week. There was one big house where we would sleep, the whole place was one big bunkbed! The kitchen was in a different building, and of course, near the lake, there was a sauna. I say ‘of course’ since there were a lot of conversations about saunas before the camp. This week was a great experience, the boys were super excited, and we did a lot of great stuff. The craziest things we did were playing an alternative to the Olympic games and the sauna. The sauna was not just sitting in the sauna, but also consisted of going out in the lake for a quick swim. And for your imagination, it was freezing that night, so it was cold! But everybody did it, even the little boys went in for a quick swim. After that week, I was exhausted. The boys completely broke me, and I went straight to bed when I got home. After looking back, it may not be the best holiday if you want to relax, but it was a great way to get to know the boys and the way Finnish people spend a school camp.”

Icehearts was established in 1996 in Vantaa, Finland. Icehearts uses team sports as a tool for engaging children with social work. The model provides consistent long-term support for vulnerable children at a time where children and their families are often met by numerous professionals. Each team is led by a mentor who supports the selected children at school, after school and at home for 12 years.