Projects.

<<<            Avoiding racism

A presentation by Inga Daníelsdóttir,
a former chairman of Rætur (Roots)

I want to start by stating why I feel that the development, which has taken place in social intergrading of foreigners in Westfjords and started in the grass roots is specially interesting.

•  It was started by none-professionals

•  It was not a premeditated plan

•  It was a spontaneous reaction to the fact that increasingly more people from other countries were living and working in the area

•  The nature of a small community is a factor worth recognising

It all grew out of a single festival.

But let me briefly tell you the story:

We were a few women who came together in January 1998 after one of us had come across a list of UN special days and found out that the 21 st of March is a day for eliminating racism. We knew that there was a lot of new people in our community from quite varied background.

•  They had been seen mainly as workers

and we felt that the community needed to recognise that they had more to offer than just labour.

Fortunately we did not know of any serious problems or negative incidents in connection with the newcomers, so it never even occurred to us to use the opportunity for any kind of complaints, or protest, or fighting for better conditions. We only thought of celebrating, and for that I am tremendously grateful.

We started by making a list of people of foreign background that we knew of. We either went to their homes or phoned them and simply told them that there is such a day and we would like to celebrate it,    - would they like to take part? And if so what would they like to do?

          Then they would know of others, and that way we gradually spread the word, and finally we sent out invitation letters and advertised to make sure that nobody would be left out.

•  Many people were willing to go on stage and sing or dance. – Da á sviði

•  Others liked to make a small exhibition of posters, books, handcraft or whatever items they might have from their original country. Básar

•  And if people didn't feel like doing any of that, they were sure to cook or bake and bring refreshments. Pólsk kaka + Melónublóm

We realised that we should not just put foreigners under the spotlight so that Icelanders could come and watch. This was meant so that we could all enjoy each others company and culture, and therefore

•  We also brought Icelandic food and had Icelandic acts on the program.

We borrowed the elementary school and thought we had plenty of room. The main hall would take 200-250 people seated and if need be we could open it up into another hall by the entrance. The booths were in the schoolrooms and the food in yet another hall. It had to be more than enough space.

•  The building got totally packed,

•  Many had to stand , and in fact not everybody could even get inside.

After this first festival we felt like after an explosion. There was no way of turning back. For five years it was an annual event, The Westfjords ' Festival of Nations. Every year it called for a bigger place and more preparations.

We began with almost no money at all, risking our own families' budget. All the time

•  our work has been possible because of sacrificial volunteer work ath. X 2

from numerous individuals and all kinds of assistance from local companies. Later on we had grants from various institutions, the Icelandic Red Cross is one of them, and the Icelandic government. One year we got a grant from UNESCO, which was not only important because of financial reasons, but no less because of the inspiration of being supported by an international institution of that level.

          Financial support made us able to expand the festival creating a more varied program. Besides cultural programmes, we have had conferences or debates

•  Pallborð í Súðavík

discussing issues such as

the role of newcomers in the future of our community ,

the media and prejudices , or

improving religious freedom in Iceland .

We have hosted introductions of institutions in the Icelandic society.

•  We wanted to reach everybody – not least children

There were concerts, theatre and movies, an African evening, - to mention a few.

We have held arts competition among all pre- and elementary schools in the region,

•  Janúar

where the best pictures were published on a calendar and sold.  

•  We have also published a magazine in three languages and delivered it for free to every home in the whole region.

For the last two years we have been willingly steering out of holding a big event once a year . That was an important beginning. But it takes a lot of energy and at the moment we like to concentrate on different things and organise smaller events more often to simply be a channel for people to meet in their free time on a more regular basis.

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At the same time as we have often felt overwhelmed because of the great response from the public, we came to realise that the whole issue of foreign people moving into our community had hardly been addressed by authorities. The contact we had made gave us valuable insight into the needs of the newcomers and we realised that we had to get that insight across to those in position of doing something about it.

We wrote to our members of parliament and they agreed that it was necessary to offer special service to people coming from abroad. They joined hands across all political lines and put forth a resolution to establish an information and service centre for newcomers in our area.

We have now had this centre for three years and there is no doubt about its valuable role, in fact it is only too obvious that the marvellous work that Elsa has been doing needs to be strengthened by more staff and resources.

Learning

A man, grumbling about his wife complained: I always try to think before I act, but my wife, she only does that afterwards!

The same can be said about us, we did not think much beforehand, we never meant to start a long term project, - but at least we have tried to think a bit afterwards J

We became convinced that foreigners were much rather a valuable addition to our community than a problem or a threat.

It is true about the rural communities in Iceland as in so many rural communities around the world that people are moving away. When this happens we are not only loosing a certain number of people, we are also loosing special elements of the population, special talents or capacity .

•  We loose the young people,

•  we lack the educated people, and

•  people with initiative are the ones that like to seize opportunities even though it means moving away .

If we take a look at the newcomers, they are moving from somewhere else.

Most of them are from 20 – 45 years old.   

We find people with considerable academic education as well as brilliant musicians and people with various vocational training.

And I believe that someone who moves from other parts of the world to the most rural area of Iceland has got initiative!

So even for our own egoistic reasons we must seriously try to remove whatever may be stumbling blocks in the way of the newcomers in becoming full-fledged participants in the community.

But what are the biggest threats?

I would say the media. It conveys mainstream thinking, which is imported from other countries and says that foreigners bring problems. Mainstream thinking also involves treating rural areas as a minority, like women or as a different race.

I agree that small communities are different from cities, but that is not all bad.

First of all, people know each other.

They have more options to value each other than just what they look like, how they dress or what position they hold at work.

Therefore it is easier to trust.

In small communities, there is a sense of ownership and commitment.

Any project is in a way everyone's project.

If it fails it is a disappointment to all,

and in time of success everyone takes pride in it.

It is our experience that volunteer work is offered very easily - especially in the smallest villages, which is of immense social value.

Let me tell you about the flags that were decorations at the festivals. The material is used bed-sheets that were given to us from the local hospital. A few ladies cut them up and folded them, and young students from an elementary school painted them. It involved finding out which flag belonged to which country, it made them aware of that people from those countries lived in our community and it offered the students the opportunity to be important participants in a community project. You can imagine their pride when they came to the festival to see their work as the main decoration. The only thing that we had to pay was a reduced price for the paint. Even the shop owner took part, by reducing his price!

It is often said that the best weapon against prejudices is education. At the World Conference Against Racism in 2001 UNESCO stated very clearly that traditional education is not enough and we have to look for deeper psychological solutions

I am convinced that

Experience is the best education we get, -

It is not enough to be told, -It is not even enough to know. It is when we experience things that opinion and feelings come together. -

So creating a positive experience

must be the main goal

  I am quite certain that the people at the hospital who gave us those sheets, the ladies who cut them and folded them, the kids that painted them and even the shopkeeper, experienced some kind of joy when they were able to contribute to the festival. They may never have given racism much thought before, but the minute they took part, they took sides. They wanted to be a part of a good cause. Their joy will stay with them and support that cause in the future.