2 Diak theses about Asia
CENTRIA’S ROLE IN HOPE PROJECT Dr Vesa Nuorva, Principal Lecturer
I come from Centria University of Applied Sciences which is situated in the northern part of Finland and is a multi-scientific university. My Department is Humanities and Education, and my degree program is civic activities and youth work. We educate community pedagogues. Most of them are working as youth workers in Lutheran parishes and many of them in child welfare work.
We have about twenty beginning students per year. As a little academic degree program we have not very many possibilities for variable internatio-nal activities as our own contribution. Consequently co-operation with other universities and co-operative international projects like the HOPE-project have opened us a door to the world of multiculturalism and internationaliza-tion. We have a very nice history how our Asia-co-operation began.
In spring 2006 a newly married student couple contacted me and asked if I could organize for them a possibility to go to India in order to do a wor-king placement there. They showed me Internet-sites of the Christian charity organizations working in India. I tried to explain to them that it could be a risk to join some unknown organization that wants voluntary workers and promises interesting working placement, and it is not sure if that kind of or-ganizations could make an agreement with us.
I asked if it were better that they would go to Europe or America to some working placement where we have established relations. But the young couple did not give up. They had a vision to go to India. So I began to brow-se Internet pages of other universities applied of sciences if someone could have agreements to India and readiness for co-operation with us. On the pages of Diak I found a name Anne Meretmaa. The lady I remember from Finnchurchaid after many years when I worked as a parish minister in Turku.
Now she was in Diak. I contacted Anne and it was a surprise: Diak could send two of our students to India because very many students of Diak were eager to go to Nepal and Diak had free seats on the plane to India.
The next question was how to organize the training for going to India.
Centria had not expertise of Asian developing countries. Without Anne´s
know-how, flexibility and willingness to co-operate we could not have ma-naged to begin working-placements in Asia. Until now we have sent 10 stu-dents to Asia: five to India and five to Nepal. In the autumn 2006 we met forthcoming Nepalese partners and that conference is the beginning of the Hope project in our remembrance.
Asia co-operation with Diak and especially the HOPE-project have meant to us in Centria a widening of international perspectives. As a teacher of hu-manities and education I think that in the name of the HOPE-project the key word is the first word: Holistic. Multiculturalism is the word of this day but we want to remember that we work above all with human beings, and a human being is a holistic wholeness.
As human beings we have a head - that means rationality. We have a will or volition – that means moral and ethics. We have a heart – that means emotions. And we have hands and legs – that means action. Despite of dif-ferent cultures we are basically similar people. We need food, drink, clothes, working, spirituality and friendship of other people. Sometimes I have asked our students that have studied and practiced in India and Nepal, what was the most remarkable memory of their Asian period. And every time they have answered: friendliness and friendship. The genuine holistic partnership is friendship.
Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulun julkaisuja C Reviews and Materials
1. Gothóni, Raili & Pesonen, Marja 1998. Tietopaketti harjoittelusta ja työelämäyhteistyöstä.
2. Gothóni, Raili & Pesonen, Marja 1998. Tutkiva ammattikäytäntö.
3. Gothóni, Raili & Pesonen, Marja 1999. Diakin harjoittelukäytännöt ja työelämäyhteistyö.
4. Tolppi, Reijo1999. Laadun lähteet verkossa Kokonaisarviointiraportti 1.
5. Kinttula, Outi 2001. Laadun lähteet verkossa. Kokonaisarviointiraportti 2.
6. Kalmari, Arja & Wallenius, Tuula (toim.) 2002. Tuutorin tuki. Opintojen ohjaus ja tuutorointi Diakissa.
7. Kainulainen, Sakari & Gothóni, Raili & Pesonen, Marja 2002. Kohti tutkivaa ammattikäytäntöä. Opas Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulun
opinnäytetöitä varten.
8. Meretmaa, Anne 2002. Supervisor’s Handbook.
9. Kuokkanen, Ritva; Kivirinta, Mervi; Määttänen, Jukka & Ockenström, Leena 2005.
Kohti tutkivaa ammattikäytäntöä. Opas Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulun opinnäytetöitä varten.
10. Kuokkanen, Ritva; Kivirinta, Mervi; Määttänen, Jukka & Ockenström, Leena 2007.
Kohti tutkivaa ammattikäytäntöä. Opas Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulun opinnäytetöitä varten. 4.uud. laitos.
11. Weissenfelt , Kerttu; Läksy, Marja-Liisa; Ruotsalainen, Kari ja Haapalainen, Paula 2008. Verkosto arjen työtä tekevien voimavaraksi.
12. Marttila, Marjaana ja Häkkinen, Johanna 2008. POLULLA-projekti – Erityistä tukea ammattikorkeakouluopinnoissaan haasteita kohdanneille.
13. Vähäkangas, Auli 2008. Aimojen kokemuksia ohjauksesta. Aikuisten monimuoto-opiskelijoiden kokemuksia ohjauksesta kevään 2007 Monikulttuurisuus-opintokokonaisuudessa Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulun Järvenpään toimipaikassa.
14. Pesonen, Helena 2008. Omalle yrittäjäuralle maahanmuuttajanainen. Omalle yrittäjäuralle, maahanmuuttajataustaisten naisten yrittäjävalmiuksien kehittämisprojekti 1.8.2006 – 40.4.2008 loppuraportti.
15. Holopainen, Anne ja Lind, Kimmo ja Niemelä, Jorma. Ammattikorkeakoulut kansalaistoiminnassa.
16. Eriksson, Elina; Markkanen, Arja & Tast, Marianne (toim.).
Hoitotyön ammattikorkeakoulutuksen ja työelämän yhteinen hanketoiminta – kolmen ammattikorkeakoulun näkökulmaa.
17. Towards Research-Orientation in Professional Practice. A Guide to Thesis Work at Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
18. Eitakari, Liisa (toim.) Monimuotoistuva työelämä. Työyhteisöjen
monimuotoistumisprosessi TyöMMe-hankkeen kokemusten perusteella.
19. Pesonen & Vihonen. Maahanmuuttajayrittäjien mentoroinnin käsikirja.
20. Heusala Maarit, Kokko Taina ja Marttila Marjaana. Yhdessä tein -hanke 2009-2011.- Opiskelijahyvinvoinnin kehittäminen Uudenmaan alueen ammattikorkeakouluissa.