Pack Your Luggage: World Village Festival 2018 Helsinki Recap

WRITING AND PHOTOS BY MONIKA CSAPO

My brother told me some time ago about a sci-fi novel he read where in the end thanks to an alien virus infection humanity turned to a much more empathic and tolerant species. And people continued to live as these more evolved life forms.

At the weekend of World Village Festival I felt these waves of tolerance of empathy many times and it did very good to my soul. It is funny to me that often people who are open and have the time to stop and listen what a person different than them has to say are labelled as "hippies". I wish it could be the norm that when we see an other Person we do not give them names already before they would open their mouth.

Tolerance is not celebrating everything different than what you are without thinking and a hint of constructive criticism. It is simply curiosity, the wish to understand, the patience to listen and hear and not to label.

Sometimes I feel sorry for people who miss good books, music and conversations because they are willing to listen to people only who look a certain way, who dress a certain way, who are or aren't from a certain country or religion. No matter if we want to acknowledge it or not, it is a fact: we are all here together living on Earth at the same time. This is all us - even if some power games, politicians, groups benefitting from division want to make us think that it is we and them.

This year's main theme of the festival was Africa therefore many of the cultural programs and talks were connected to African countries while others to some local topics like What to expect of Finland's upcoming EU leadership, how Finland can play a role in accomplishing UN's AGENDA 2030 goals or Is it possible to imagine a Finland where is no poverty?

Let me introduce here my favorite scene of the festival: Taiga Secene/Lavaklubi (Finnish National Theater Club Scene). The talks and panel discussions here were of a very high quality throughout the whole festival. I have to say that I think it is really also a "Finnish thing"- in Finland you learn from small on how to lead proper conversations, how to use argumentations in a talk. How to defend your opinon but be also able to conversate openly with others who might disagree.

Among the panelists who participated in conversations there were some high profile guests like Ritva Reinikka, former director of World Bank, Tarja Halonen, former president of Finland or Kimmo Tiilikainen, current environmental minister of Finland. Thanks to the culture of Finnish modesty and equality all of them participated as one of several panelists and did not require any special treatment.

During the weekend I ate Cambodian and African food, passed by some great street music performances, listened to Abou Diarra and was carried away by the fantastic closing concert of Dobet Gnahoré. I bought two small Nepali purses from the Finnish-Nepali association and gained some information on various topics just by walking around the tents behind Helsinki Railway Station.

The talks I liked the most were those which went into detail and offered specific information. I was inspired by listening to fellow economists and people from other professions who turned their knowledge and will to help into simple, effective solutions. For example to Ritva Reinikka who developed the concept of "service delivery indicators" to measure service delivery performance in the educational and health care sector in Africa. She pointed out an example when in Tansania after starting random visits to schools it turned out that many times teachers were not present at lectures when they were supposed to be. This was found to be the missing link between seemingly good educational participation statistics and high real life failure rate of students.

After telling about the findings to the prime minister he decided to call on meetings with parliament where he presented the problem. Followingly new systems were applied where students could tell the school immediately through apps and mobile phones when teachers were missing. They also started to brainstorm about teacher's training and tools of improvement in work motivation and financial compensation. Some years passed by and at the time of a new meeting the minister told Ritva Reinikka that student performance indicators has become much better since applying the recommended changes. This was a good example for it that sometimes critical thinking and wanting to face reality are much bigger help than financial help only. And that by identifying the real cause of failure you can transform whole systems relatively quickly.

Itohan Okundaye is an activist and former human trafficking victim from Nigeria. She talked about her life story and her new mission of wanting to help people to avoid to have the same fate she had. She told about how expensive it is to get a work or study visa to Europe and why some people choose to ask for help of smugglers to get to Europe for 40,000 euros. The smugglers are often acquintances and friends but in the viscious circle of human trafficking there is not much friendship to find. People have to work off the loan of the smuggling fee once they get to Europe which means often forced prostitution just as it was in her case in Italy. Living in a modern country it is easy to judge the choices of others but may be putting the judgement aside we can also see the other side: that in the streets of Rome or Oslo there are men paying for and using the forced services of these women. She also spoke about that often by the time the women pay off their loans they turn into traffickers themselves in the hope of quick money through an other victim. Therefore the circle really feeds itself.

Her new project is a cooperation with FinnWID where they provide education and entreprenurial education to a group of fifteen young women trying to give them tools for suceeding in everyday life and a chance to create businesses.

In the corporate accountability talks Salima Namusobya, Gerald Kankya and Riikka Thomson discussed about foreign investments in Uganda and how foreign investors should feel responsible in knowing what they support with their money. They voiced a concern which is also very logical from local point of view but not that often from the side of foreign money: if a company has high standards of human rights and environmental protection in his home base it would be globally beneficial if they could continue the same practices when they invest in Africa or in other places around the world.

And then came Dobet Gnahoré. First the artist interview then the closing concert of World Village Festival 2018 where she performed songs from her new album Miziki (Freedom). I have not seen people jumping and shouting during concerts in Finland very often- mostly we dance standing and moving shoulders and head slightly- but this was one of them. There was no need of translations of lyrics from the seven African languages she sings in, no need for having introductions before the songs. The message came so deep from her personality and life itself that she took everyone with her on a journey through Africa and around the world. Through her I saw my friends, love, struggle, life. I saw Africa as a proud, beautiful, highly intelligent, determinded woman and then she was also something higher, something common in all of us: the world.

The festival ended and I was starting to go home. I stored every moment in myself until next year. As one of the presenters said during one of the conversations "sadly racism seems to have awoken recently from its winter hibernation". Also I feel the hate and negativity in the everyday from time to time. But I also see places like this. Where we can gather and talk about culture, life, problems. Where there is free speech, peace, happiness, tolerance and acceptance. Not as something unique or hippie-ish but as a norm.

I see the two poles and I am thinking that if there will be a division later I want to belong to this group and I hope that also the ones with knowledge and technology will join us. We can leave that part of the world who wants to live in hatred behind us and live in a better world. Where people can be who they are, where everyone is respected and listened to. Where there are no second class citizens, where peoople want to use their competence and given talent to solve problems. For a very long time I tried to convert others. Now I want to spend my time meaningfully and live a life of action. Where I do actively for the things I believe in, instead of fighting the ones I do not.

Below you can find a list of talks and programs I participated at Lavaklubki (pls feel free to google translate the linked descriptions):

- Grass-roots level public services in Africa

- From a victim of human trafficking to an activist with Itohan Okundaye (NIG/FIN)

- Finland without poverty?- Can it be possible?

- Building a just world with corporate accountability. With focus on Finnfund and its investments in Uganda

- A more sustainable and responsible Europe through Finland's EU presidency

- Artist Interview: Dobet Gnahoré (CIV/FRA)

- With own voice: women's right in religions (FIN/UGA)

- Three stories: Africa in the life of two-cultural families

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