Manu is a Good Neighbour to Young Abdi

The photo album of pensioner Manu Teittinen reveals a great deal about the colourful life story of this highly experienced former career civil servant. One of the photographs shows him advising the newly-elected President Martti Ahtisaari, while another was taken at a Buddhist temple. There is a picture of his late Filipina wife and one of his grown up daughter.

"Over the last ten years I have developed an interest in Nepal, where I became an adopted member of a Nepalese family," Teittinen explains, as we examine one of his snapshots from the Far East.

From his origins in Kymenlaakso through his experiences as a civil servant in Sweden to his current active retirement in Havukoski, Vantaa, Manu Teittinen has led a full and fascinating life. He has been a drummer in Olavi Virta's orchestra, a trade union activist, a journalist for the Kotka magazine Eteenpäin and a writer.

Manu Teittinen received his higher education in multicultural work while engaged as a Cultural Secretary at the National Association of Finns in Sweden in the 1970s and 1980s. It was at this time that he learned how to negotiate with the Swedish civil servants responsible for immigration affairs.

"You can't beat a Swedish civil servant when it comes to tough negotiations," Teittinen reminisces with a glint of seriousness in his eye.

Manu Teittinen has a definite calling for immigrant work, and though his career has led him to pursue this endeavour in the most exalted circles, his current challenges are at grassroots level, working on behalf of young Somalis in a northern suburb of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. A global view is nevertheless important:

"The Finns are trying to recreate immigrants in their own image, but none of us would want to become a Somali even if we went to live in Somalia," Teittinen explains.

Meals for the military?

Abdi Hassan is one of four Somalis that Manu Teittinen has been assisting. 20 year-old Abdi came to Finland in 1990 as the clan war erupted in his homeland. However, from 1997 to 1999 he lived with his grandparents in Ethiopia. Abdi explains:

"My father sent me there so that I could learn about my own culture and religion."

From the perspective of learning about Finnish culture, however, Abdi's two-year timeout in Ethiopia was not the best possible approach, nor did it occur at the ideal age. His schooling in Finland also suffered, as it was interrupted by the departure for Ethiopia and it has been difficult to rekindle an interest in school education.

"After I came back from Ethiopia I completed secondary school and now I am seeking vocational education. I have applied for training as a chef in Kerava and Järvenpää."

Before this, however, Abdi will perform his national military service, which is due to begin in July of this year. He would like to serve in the Navy catering corps. The original identity of this young Somali lies in the nomadic culture of Somalia, where people have moved around for centuries in search of better living conditions. Wealth is counted in the size of rural camel herds, and Abdi's family has derived its livelihood from raising chickens and tending vineyards. It has been difficult to adapt and become acclimatised to the cold, industrialised culture of the Nordic countries. Abdi describes the experience from a personal perspective:

"It's hard to live between two cultures and yet to take both of them seriously. You have to give reasons all the time for why you behave as you do."

Abdi has had particular problems with Finnish notions of punctuality. Although he secured a traineeship with the VASAMA project (an immigrant employment initiative co-financed by the City of Vantaa and the European Social Fund), he had to break this off because of poor timekeeping. As a young person accustomed to a different view of time, Abdi is aware of the problems that this can cause:

"Perhaps military service will help me to get used to Finnish punctuality."

Intimidated by overt racism

Like any other young man, Abdi's ambitions include a good life, a family and a steady job. Although he has been helped in practical matters by a support person familiar with Finnish culture, the experience of living in his own apartment has also taught him how to be independent.

Abdi appreciates Finland for its educational opportunities and relative ease of life, but he is far from comfortable about personal security considerations.

"Encounters with Finnish racists in the nearby suburb of Hakunila, for example, have been a harrowing experience. I get the feeling that people cannot accept me for what I am," Abdi explains.

As someone who spent his professional career engaged in multicultural work in a society that is far more culturally diverse than Finland, Manu Teittinen has also had his fill of Finnish racism and has stories to tell:

"Racism is an integral aspect of living here. Finnish neighbours had a Somali woman evicted from our apartment building on trumped-up charges about three years ago. The Vantaa police have also been disturbingly ham-fisted in their dealings with young adults from the ethnic minorities."

Currently Manu Teittinen is one of those who stand up for Somalis living in the district. The complaints in his apartment building led him to bring the young Somalis concerned to a meeting of the residents' committee. At this meeting they finally had an opportunity to tell they neighbours about themselves. Abdi describes the experience:

"We told them that we are like Finnish youngsters with problems of our own. We asked the residents to imagine what it would feel like to go to Somalia because of a war in their own country."

One of the main obstacles to Abdi's search for a good life will be finding employment. Last summer this young Somali man applied for 16 jobs but his cultural background and inadequate language skills were a serious handicap. He refuses to be discouraged by such setbacks, however, and has been involved in multicultural voluntary work with the Finnish Red Cross helping other immigrants.

"Besides working as a chef, I feel that I could have something to contribute to the mission of the Red Cross. It would be a way for me to do my bit in helping to tackle the world's problems," Abdi suggests.

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