(If you are wondering why the pictures of the children from the opening ceremony are so fuzzy, it is because of a child safety law in Finland which bars the inclusion of pictures of school children from any school event on a public forum without express permission each parent concerned!)
Thanks to Eric Mwai, I was invited to the reopening of the International School Campus in Oulu on Friday 4th May 2007.
The completely refurbished facilities now house three schools: The Leinonpuisto School, the Oulu International School and the International Baccalaureate (IB) of the Oulu Lyseo School.
The Opening Ceremony was truly amazing. It was so professional that it is difficult to believe that it was ordinary school children who were performing.
The choir, the acting, the blending of the Finnish Kalevala with cultures from many countries, including outstanding Bollywood dancing choreographed by the students themselves, were something I would not have missed in years.
They even had the Chief Guest, Ms. Elizabeth Rehn, taking part in their performance. It was so seamless, that one was astounded at their ingenuity.
Ms. Elizabeth Rehn, who after a very rewarding career in politics, being Finland's former Minister of Defence (Europe's first women to hold this post), former UN Under-Secretary General, special rapporteur on the Former Yugoslavia, etc., has been very active in gender and education issues.
The speech by Ms. Rehn was from her heart and to the point. She spoke of her work in the Balkans and the schools she was involved with there, where many different nationalities of countries in conflict live and study together.
This was what I always thought what education was about!
After the event, when we all enjoyed a very wonderful spread prepared by the Home Economics Department of the School, I took the liberty of meeting Ms. Rehn. (I have met her many many years ago when I was involved in work to help Ethnic Minorities.) I told her how much I enjoyed her speech. But, I added one comment - she was speaking of Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay where I studied over 50 years ago.
I informed her how we students had stayed in touch and how we were organising our 50th Year Reunion in 2009!
These true values of education did exist during my childhood, both at Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, and Cathedral School, Bombay.
(Our grandson, Samuel, attended the Oulu International School when he was studying in Finland. I used to either drop him to school in the morning or pick him up from school in the evening, whenever required. Even then I was impressed by the courteous nature of the students and staff in the school. Samuel now lives and studies in Newcastle, England, where Joanna is studying medicine, and only spends his short summer holidays in his home in Finland.)
I was also able to compliment both Teuvo Laurinolli, Rector of the Oulu Lyseo, the school from which our younger daughter, Joanna, completed her higher education from in 1990, and Raija Perttunen, Rector of the Oulu International School, on the excellent programme.
How I wish such a situation had existed in 1984 when we shifted our residence to Finland.
It was with heavy heart that we had to break up our family. Within 7 months of moving to Finland we had to send Susanna, our older daughter, who had completed her schooling in India, to England to continue her studies. Five months later we had to send our elder son, Jaakko, to England to be able to carry on his studies.
These were heart-breaking events for both Annikki and me to break up our family at that crucial formative stage of the children's teenage lives.
Joanna, being extroverted by nature, and being much younger, was able to adapt into the Finnish system and complete her education right up to the Masters level. Our youngest, Mika, was broken hearted that we had moved to a country which did not play cricket. Once he became an outstanding Chess Player, and was placed in the Finnish Junior's Chess Championship, he was able to integrate, but was never quite at home as was Joanna.
To us, the International Campus has come 23 years too late.
We wish the 3 schools, the staff and the students, a wonderful existence promoting the values of life related to education and tolerance!
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