History and village culture in Lapland
Description: The camp takes place in the picturesque village of Kaukonen, with many original wooden buildings. The local village community, Puurokaukonen, is one of those small communities of Lapland that brings the locals together to work for making the village a comfortable place to live. A lively and welcoming atmosphere makes it a unique and feel-good experience for all people around the world to visit there.
While doing the practical work and helping the village community, you get the opportunity to experience local nature, culture, and social habits. The camp takes place during the harvest season in Lapland, so you’ll get a chance to enjoy locally sourced vegetables and go berry and mushroom picking and fishing by boats on the river Ounas guided by locals.
Type of Work: The volunteers will take part in cleaning, organizing, repairing, and painting the village house and yards around the village. One working day includes a visit to the local Särestöniemi museum where also the history of the village will be discussed. Volunteers should bring their own rubber boots and clothes for outside work, and biking helmets if they have such, as the commute between accommodation and work location is done by bikes. During their free time, the volunteers can meet locals at different events, visit the artist residence of the local Silence Festival and try some hiking in the Arctic hills.
Study Theme: Local History and Culture, focus being on Lapland, the North of Finland
Accommodation: Volunteers will stay at the village house, in two separate buildings that are located close to each other, at the beach river Ounas. Both houses include a bathroom, toilet, sauna, and washing machines. Volunteers will sleep in shared rooms, with separate spaces for men and women if needed. Volunteers will cook their own meals with the ingredients that they buy mostly by themselves with provided money and with the ingredients from nature like vegetables, berries, mushrooms, and fish.
Approximate Location: Kaukonen, Lapland, North of Finland
Notes: We trust that the impact of our travels is a shared concern and if you can, please prefer more eco-friendly options than taking a plane.
We recommend double-checking that your insurance covers your travel costs in case of unlikely but possible camp cancellation e.g. due to sudden changes in the Covid pandemic.
Some SCI workcamps will have an additional fee of €50.00. This will cover e.g. international insurance costs of the volunteer and a small travel fund to enable disadvantaged volunteers to join projects. If you apply through a partner organization you will pay the fee directly to the hosting branch according to their instructions. Check here whether you're applying through the SCI branch or partner: https://sci.ngo/about-us/our-movement/where-we-are
Camp Photographs
