Volunteer in FINLAND

To search for projects currently available in Finland please visit the VFP Open Projects Directory.

“As Marko, one of the work camp participants, put it, Kuusiluoto Island is a little piece of paradise. It takes three minutes to walk from one side to the other, but I feel that there have been so many memories made there in the short two weeks of the camp it could be a continent of small but beautiful moments shared by a dozen people. Each moment as vivid and gorgeous to me as the person that helped make it. It was one of the most valuable experiences of my life, if not the most”.  Maria Degtiarenko / Finland - 2007

“My experience there was—and pardon my sounding like a Hallmark card—absolutely life changing.  I have worked at addressing the issue of world peace and world hunger since I was in middle school.  It has always been in the back of my mind and even since I was about 13, I knew that I would focus my entire life and career at making this world a better place (again, I apologize for the Hallmark card I seem to be writing.)  I have even worked with groups on these issues outside of my state and even outside of the US before.  Before Finland I had been to Philly, California, and Romania all in an attempt to work with other people who felt the same way I did and had the same hopes and aspirations.  But there was something about doing it all in Finland that happened to make a greater impact on me.  Perhaps it was the fact that I was the only American in a group of 15 campers and counselors.  Maybe it was because I slept on the floor of an ancient train station turned into a Peace Station.  Perhaps it was because I was traveling overseas alone for the first time.  Or perhaps, and most likely, it was the timing in my life.  I am 21 and about to enter my last year of college.  Since day one at school I have been anxious to get out and actually do something in this world—do something for this world.  As the college years crept by I began to panic at the realization that being a writing major does not bode well for a career in promoting peace (unfortunately, being a writing major doesn’t bode well for a career in anything.)  Then I had the even greater panic attack at the realization that I wasn’t even sure there was a possibility for a career in the promotion of peace!  But after spending two weeks with some of the most amazing people I believe I will ever meet, my worries were calmed.” Julianne Appleton / Finland – 2007

"It was amazing and wonderful. I found energy…I found many new friends…I found a growing respect for people of all kinds…I found a new lease on life for myself…and I found another spot on this globe where loving, caring people take time out of their lives to try and bring a little bit of harmony to this rapidly spinning world." Cliff Beyer / Finland - 2000

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