out now: Summer Edition 2007

[Editorial][Finland 06][Exec. Committee] [Interview][Invitation Zürich 07][Games][Romania][ESG Day 06][Handicrafts][Masthead]

Interview with Heidi Niemenmaa

Welcome to the ESG Executive Committe, Heidi.
We are glad that you will represent Finland in the ESG!

Tell us a bit about you and your work with the Finnish YMCA Scouts.

My name is Heidi Niemenmaa. I’m living in Tampere and am studying medical science, so I hopefully will be a doctor sometimes!
In my scouts group I am ‘Akela’, this means in our Scout language I’m the leader of the cup scout division.
And then I also have a cup scout group together with two of my friends. We have a meeting every week.
I’m also part of the board of Scouts of Tampere.

How did you find your way to the ESG?

Well, some people of my movement talked to me about ESG and that they would like to have somebody representing Finland in this international level of YMCA scouting and Jungschar. I hadn’t heard about it before, so it was completely new to me. But it sounded very exciting, so I thought why not checking it out….

And what was your motivatiton for saying yes to being a member of the Executive Committee now?

Especially the idea of all the international contacts, the travelling and the look into other cultures motivates me. It’s very interesting to see the different ways of scouting and I think it is helpful for leaders to learn things from other movements that they can afterwards include in their own groups.

Heidi (and Hariolf, also new member) participating in a “lesson” at the ESG Seminar 06 in Finland

What are your goals and wishes for ESG in the time you will be representing Finland?

I would like to reach more people who take part in the ESG programmes. The Seminar and Leadershiptraining should be so interesting that new people will love to come. Yes, it would be great, if participants would almost have to fight for the free seats in ESG, like a competition. Because I think ESG is such a great way of getting to know so many interesting things about Scouting, Cultures and also personal things. So I hope that the network will become stronger and that it will be very easy to find YMCA-Scouts everywhere they exist!

Thank you very much!

Martina Büchi, Switzerland

In the next edition of the ESG newsletter, you will find the interview with the other new member of the ESG Executive Committee, Hariolf Schenk.