A few things to say about a Finnish Sauna

Finland is a nation of 5.3 million people, 2 million cars and 3.3 million saunas. Saunas can be found pretty much everywhere in Finland. They are in private and communal buildings, in homes, offices, factories, sports centers, hotels, ships, even in mines underground. There are portable tent saunas, saunas on trees, on cars, buses, on trailers, even on bicycles, you name it. You can take a sauna for instance even at the Ice Hockey stadium in Helsinki where you can watch ice hockey through the windows while sitting in the “stadium sauna box”. So yes, sauna is very much in our DNA and everywhere you go in Finland. Almost every Finnish household has a sauna. The common sauna days are Wednesdays and Saturdays, nationwide. We can say that about 99% of Finns take a sauna at least once a week, and much more when they visit their summer cabins in the countryside, by a lake.

A typical way to take a Finnish sauna is to take several saunas in one night. Meaning you get in and out of the sauna, to cool off in the shower, outside on a patio or swimming in a lake, and then you go back again to warm up and sweat. This kind of sauna routine takes place all year round, even if it’s snowy or icy. In fact, swimming on frozen lakes, in ice holes, is quite popular. It’s true that routines or patterns of Finnish life revolve around sauna. Whether it is a national holiday, a sports event, a work-related occasion or any other private or public celebration or happening, it most likely involves sauna.

There’s an old Finnish saying “sauna is a poor man's pharmacy,". Back in the days, sauna was considered the holiest room in the house and closely associated with well-being. When working in the fields in harsh conditions, sauna provided relief and soothed aching muscles. But Saunas weren’t used only for bathing. Because saunas were clean places with hot water available, women used to give births in saunas. Saunas were used for preparing and storing food and for making rituals for instance before marriage and after death. These rituals and routines explain why there are sayings such as “Build the sauna. Then the house.” Or a house without a sauna is not a home”. Overall, we Finns like to think of saunas not as a luxury, but more as a necessity.

And we have integrated sauna also in our foreign relations and diplomacy. A good example of this is our former President Urho Kekkonen who used sauna as a meeting place to negotiate with the Soviet Diplomats during the Cold War era. He believed that “all men were equal in the sauna, and politics could not be hidden up a sleeve when no sleeves were worn.” Today, the Finnish parliament has its own sauna chamber, and all Finnish diplomatic and consular missions and embassies around the world have their own sauna.

And another topic I’d like to touch shortly is nudity. Finnish sauna has nothing to do with sex. NO, and suggesting it won’t score you any points. Sauna is a secret place for physical and mental cleansing. It’s for relaxation and taking it easy. And this example I’m about to tell is not as kinky as it sounds, but in the summer, Finns like to use a bunch of birch branches with leaves, tied together, to gently whip themselves during sauna. Yes, you dip this leafy birch bundle in the sauna bucket to soak it in water. You heat up the birch buddle on the sauna stove, on top of the hot rocks and once it’s all nice and hot, you gently “beat yourself up” or the person next to you. This stimulates the circulation and gives a nice, fresh aroma. It simply feels good.  You can’t imagine it, you must try it yourself.

Greeting for the Celebration of the Centennial Finland at the Nordic Happy Hour

Good evening, Hyvaa iltaa, ladies and gentlemen, naiset ja herrat- thank you for coming tonight.  I’d like to express my gratitude to the Burns Street Bistro for opening their doors to Nordic culture, which brings us to the core of what we, the Finlandia Foundation of Montana do. We bring cultural diversity and non-commercial popular culture to Missoula and our start as a newly established group has been quite fulfilling. It seems that people genuinely are interested in, so we’ve realized it’s not only our board, who feel the need to experience Finnishness or something Scandinavian at least a few times a year. Tonight is clearly dedicated to celebrate Finland's 100 years of Independence. 

As we know, Nordic innovations and knowledge-based economies, cultural trends and Scandinavian design can be attractive, but more importantly it is the like-minded philosophies and the values of the social and collective or the idea of cohesive and open communities that are deep in the Nordic culture and Missoula has already adopted, but certainly can learn more from the Nordics, for instance, in the areas of education, healthcare, gender equality maybe even human rights.

This in mind, I cannot emphasize enough, the Nordic countries are pretty good at “everybody and together” when it comes to collective impact and co-creation to maximize potential for equal opportunity. And this is what the community of Missoula does well too. Like tonight, the Burns Street Bistro, and all of you who are here, showing up without a hesitation, out of curiosity, or friendly support. I’m very proud to call Missoula home and I strongly believe our city is fitting to have more of "the Nordic".

And more generally speaking, cultural events like this are all about making connections and building relationships no matter where you are from, or where you are, from global to local, vice versa and everything in between that makes us humans to keep the peace and to embrace multiculturalism. And that’s what we advocate for. Our work is completely voluntary, our membership is free and we truly welcome anybody with a slight interest in what we are doing. We are looking forward to expanding our network and are very excited to bring Scandinavian Midsmmer party to town next summer. The Midsummer is a crazy good way to celebrate the summer solstice.

Lastly, I’d like to mention one of our community outreach programs called the Montana Baby Boxes. The Initiative originated from Finland 80 years ago, and several states in the US have adopted the model, and Montana should not be left behind. We have a sample baby box here for display, and we thank La Stella Blue, a baby-clothing store here in town for their generosity. The Montana baby box initiative is a great way to go about how we can collectively build upon to support our expectant mothers and their new babies in our community and outside.

But that’s enough on my part, next I’d like to announce our raffle winners…

A start is a beginning. Bringing Baby Boxes to Montana

I'm writing on behalf of the Finlandia Foundation of Montana, a newly established, Missoula-based organization, to introduce an initiative called Baby Boxes. You might have heard about the concept, as "Baby Box Movement" has generated global and national interest. Several states in the US have adopted the model in the support of new mothers and babies and Montana should not be left behind.

In brief: The Baby Box is a practical tool for supporting mothers with their new-born babies. The Baby Box is a cardboard box that can be used as a first safe sleep space for an infant. The Baby Box comes with a mattress, clothing and other necessary items needed for taking care of a baby from 0 to 6 months old.

The baby box supports the idea of giving equal opportunity for babies of all backgrounds from the very beginning: it’s free (first and for most) for low-income families and won't be handed out without a proper prenatal or infant care education.

The Baby Box originated from Finland, the country who federally has provided free baby boxes over 75 years to all mothers residing and expecting a baby in Finland. This Finnish Baby Box initiative has gained global attention, as it is very practical and smart. It has helped to lower infant mortality rates. In the USA several states and cities have started baby box campaigns and programs, just to name a few: Alabama, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Minnesota, Maine, Colorado.  Currently, more than 20 states are working on introducing the initiative to their communities.

The Finlandia Foundation of Montana is working through government agencies, hospitals, insurance companies, tribes, corporations, and non-profits to raise awareness about the initiative to distribute Baby Boxes in Montana. A key element in bringing the baby boxes to Montana is to keep the initiative local so that every-penny-possible would stay within the state and go towards our Montana communities and to their target audiences, who are low-income, pregnant women residing in Montana. Another fact is that every mother who receives the baby box must have a proof of infant care education: visited and consulted with a healthcare provider; attended an existing prenatal class; or completed an online course in order to be eligible for the box. The baby box initiative is very much needed in a rural state like Montana, where family income rates are low and distances are vast: access to health care and prenatal education across the state are almost non-existent.

Stories:

It was so time-consuming, expensive and hard to decide what crib or bassinet to get for my baby, and I was afraid to buy a used one at a garage sale. I waited and waited too long. The baby arrived 2 weeks earlier! I feel like the baby box saved me.

My employer gifted me the baby box as a kind gesture. I was supported at my workplace and felt more prepared for my baby's arrival. 

All I asked for was the baby box as my baby shower gift to save money and the environment.

I wanted to sleep next to my baby, so my husband and I lifted the baby box on our bed between us. Everybody slept close, but safe.

The Finlandia Foundation is excitedly moving forward with the Montana Baby Box Initiative. We are reaching out to find supporters, to build partnerships and are simply asking for an opportunity to open a dialogue for further discussion.

Our organization is public, non-partisan and non-profit and we operate for educational and charitable purposes.

Sincerely,

Jenni Rohrbach, President

The Finlandia Foundation of Montana: Who We Are and What We Do

The Finlandia Foundation of Montana (FFM) is an advocate for global diversity and is dedicated to the preservation of Finnish- and Scandinavian-American cultural heritage in Montana and the Rocky Mountain region. FFM was formed in the spring of 2017 when we, the two founding members, Jenni Rohrbach and Jenna McVey, connected through the Traveling Sauna, a wooden sauna house on wheels that came to visit Missoula in April 2017 because of us. We saw a need to promote Finnish culture in our small and vivid community of Missoula, but realized more potential in partnership and thus invited other Missoula Nordics to join us and maximize our efforts together. Today FFM board of directors consists of Finns, Danes, and Americans. Together, the theme of Finland’s centenary celebration for its' independence also suits us quite well.

Our collective experiences, both Jenni’s work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki and with the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations in New York and Jenna’s passion for Finland that has developed over the years, have culminated in the realization of FFM. The Nordic countries and their like-minded philosophies have inspired us to think the same way when it comes to community and collaboration. Although FFM is a very new organization, we have had an active presence and have already accomplished quite a lot through our community outreach and events. We seek to introduce Finnish and Scandinavian culture and ideas to the wider public, especially in regards to education and innovation. We hope to enrich our community by promoting multiculturalism, diversity, acceptance, and equality on the local level, something we firmly see as core Nordic values. These values are closely connected to “development, collective impact and social capital” when working towards building more diverse and cohesive communities in Montana.

We’ve been working hard to get Finnish maternity packages to Missoula and hopefully throughout Montana. (This initiative was actually written about in several local newspapers in Finland.) We also connect with families and youth through our music outreach program and through our international exchange student program in partnership with the Council for Educational Travel USA, Missoula County Public Schools, and the University of Montana. So far we have participated in an international fair at the University of Montana, as well as hosted the Traveling Sauna, a Nordic fiddle concert, a May Day celebration, a Finnish movie night, and a get-together for the Nordic exchange students in Missoula. The highlight of the year for FFM will be a community dinner event in November specifically celebrating the Finnish Centennial. We at FFM are honoured to be part of Finlandia Foundation National and look forward to what the future will hold. For more information on FFM, please visit finlandiafoundationmontana.org or find us on Facebook under Montana Nordic Group.

Photo Text: The FFM board with Finnish and Scandinavian exchange students: Making friends with newcomers and embracing cultural diversity in Missoula. Discussions about the success of the Nordic countries in higher education, an example of Finland as an educational superpower. Also supporting the national and local Welcoming Week campaign for refugees and immigrants.

Success stories of Scandinavian Countries in the area of education and innovation

By Jenni Rohrbach, President of the Finlandia Foundation of Montana
A get-together for the Scandinavian exchange students in Missoula, Sep 19, 2017.

I did put together a small speech, as I thought it would be good for all of us to think about and be reminded of the success of the Nordic Countries in the area education and innovations. And this speech goes out to our young audience, because of you, students, you are the examples of, and sort of ambassadors for delivering messages about the Scandinavian know-how, especially as it comes education. So if you run into somebody saying hi and asking where is that accent coming from, make sure you have something good in your back pocket to say about the Nordic countries and feel free to also promote our Nordic Group here in Missoula; our programs and events.

We all know that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland spend the most money on education and have placed at top in the international rankings. Education has been an investment, cause knowledge-based economy is attractive and because Nordic Countries, do not have many or any, except Norway, natural resources or strong manufacturing, so I would say that this type of social capital driven and collective impact, innovation type economy has been the driving force for the Nordic countries to market themselves.

I took a look at the recent statistics and the Times Higher Education released in March its European Rankings for 2017 and it shows that from 200 universities, the top 15 were in the Scandinavia and that there is a steady increase in the teaching quality and research too, especially in Finland and Sweden. Here’s the top list.

1. Karolinska Institute- Sweden

1. University of Helsinki- Finland

1. Uppsala University - Sweden

1. Lund University - Sweden

1. Aarhus University - Denmark

1. University of Copenhagen - Denmark

1. University of Oslo - Norway

1. Stockholm University - Sweden

1. KTH Royal Institute of Technology - Sweden

1. University of Gothenburg- Sweden

1. Technical University of Denmark - Denmark

1. Aalborg University - Denmark

1. Aalto University - Finland

1. University of Bergen- Norway

1. University of Oulu - Finland

• Most universities have good overall reputation and high enrollment number

• Sweden has a high level of English language skills - an advantage when it comes to publishing research papers.

• Universities have a strong bond with communities.

• Free tuition for most European students, Imagine that 85% of funding for Swedish higher education comes from the government.

• There’s cooperation between universities, including joint research facilities and strong industry connections.

• And there’s generous investment in research from governments.

Top reasons why the universities have been so successful are the following:

So this is good news for the Nordic countries, but next, I’d like to say a few words about Finland as an educational superpower! Not to undermine the other Nordic countries, but since Finland is turning 100 years old this year, our job as a Nordic group is to recognize this. There actually are quite a few events across the USA taking place to celebrate the Centennial Finland and I’m sure our Finnish students know that there are lots of celebrations going on in Finland.

You must have heard that according to the PISA survey, Finnish students have been turning in some of the highest test scores in the world. Finnish educators have traveled across the globe to share our stories, but it has somewhat been challenging to make other countries understand our techniques. It’s been especially hard to explain Americans that our success it’s not about competition, rankings, standardized testing, best teachers or best “private” schools and also not based on performance or excellence, but our success was build upon cooperation and equity.

In Finland, we share this idea of that Less is More, meaning we get better results for not trying too hard. Less homework, more creative play. Less sitting down and listening in the classroom, more time for recess and breaks. More time for recess, also means more time in the teacher’s lounge for information sharing, more time for planning, evaluations, and simply resting and getting ready for the next class.

And there’s a whole lot of Trust in the system, meaning trust between administrators, teachers, students, and parents, also government and communities. Teachers enjoy a lot of freedom, they can recreate and self-evaluate, and see what works best for their classroom of kids. We have decentralized curricula and teachers usually stay with the same class of students for several years. Teachers are not being questioned by administrators or parents, but given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of responsibility. A master's degree is required to enter the profession.

And there’s trust in the system for the students as well- Finnish students are given a lot of independence and freedom of choice. The students are seen almost as equals to their teachers.  They are encouraged to teach themselves and each other.

And the last “ideal” is that Finnish schools try to be and like to be healthy and safe environments. This starts with the basics; free and nutritional school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and personal student guidance.

To conclude, while Americans love to talk about competition, we avoid that, cause that makes us Finns very uncomfortable. We like to think that "Real winners do not compete." Since the 1980s, we experienced our educational reform and success, the main driver for the Finnish education policy was the idea that every child should have the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. So education was never set to produce star performers, but to even out social inequality. In the end, our success was not our goal, but an outcome and a good surprise.

And, I’m not going to talk much longer, but I must say something about the most recent development.  Finland will be adopting a "phenomenon-based learning system" allowing students to drop the standard subjects and experience more holistic learning.

What this phenomenon-based learning means, is getting rid of all school subjects. Instead, students take one concept or event, and look at it through multiple lenses. For example, students could look at the European Union, and incorporate languages, economics, history, and geography, and then they could look at climate change the following week, involving science and environmental studies.

I think this approach is brilliant when you think of all social sciences, for instance, they are narratives that are interconnected. Whether you are learning about world war II, it combines religion, immigration, economic development, they all relate. And at the elementary and high-school level, you can think of acting out  “running a restaurant”, and learn about advertising, accounting, English-Spanish menus, design, home economics etc.

An article I read said that about 70% of the teachers in Helsinki are in some ways involved in shifting the education system towards event-based learning. This isn’t really surprising to me, as it seems like it would be more rewarding for teachers to be able to connect with students more and to teach them what they actually would like to learn. Finland plans to gradually change the system by 2020. So we’ll follow and see what this change brings!