Citizens!
It is time to bring forward themes that highlight children’s rights in this strange – and somewhat worrying – contemporary reality. Humanity’s ability to build a safe and just world appears troublingly weak. Deepening crises, accelerated by polarization, threaten especially those most vulnerable — children with disabilities at the lowest end of the income spectrum.
Here in Finland, the children closest to our hearts are those of Ukraine and Gaza. But if we lift our gaze a little further, we see the immense humanitarian crisis in Sudan and its neighboring regions, as well as the plight of children throughout other parts of Africa.
This year marks the 12th anniversary of our organization. We began our work in Arusha, Tanzania in 2013, by launching teacher training for the deaf unit at Meru Primary School. Our cooperation with Meru PS has continued ever since — and still continues today.
Our latest project, “Arusha, Especially” (2025–2028), is now well underway. The early part of the year was spent acquiring essential equipment and launching the training of mentor teachers. FSE Tanzania has gained an additional staff member in its office, which has enhanced the implementation of project activities.
So far, we have equipped both Patandi Maalum Secondary School and Themi Secondary School each with a classroom furnished with laptops, a solar power system, furniture designed for deaf students, projectors, document cameras, and much more. Equipment installation for Meru Primary School will follow.
Our group of mentor teachers currently includes 14 participants from these partner schools. Their training, which began on-site last spring, now continues remotely twice a month via Zoom. The main trainers are Eva Forssén, Aino Korhonen, and Liisa Ilomäki, with occasional guest experts joining the sessions.
Later this year, our training program will be complemented by the association’s younger generation, who will travel to Arusha in November under the leadership of midwife Taika Wiikari. Their agenda includes sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) training for our Tanzanian staff, school personnel, and students.
Organizational work today has become much more diverse than in 2013. We have helped to build a coalition of Finnish NGOs, whose cooperation has received much praise from leading authorities — including the Embassy of Tanzania, Fingo, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Key partners in our collaboration include the Abilis Foundation, Fida International, and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM). Several other actors have also joined the coalition, ensuring active collaboration and information sharing among Finnish organizations. We meet regularly two to three times a year via online connections.
The production company Sakea Oy, which produced the documentary about our work, remains an active and valued partner. Together with Sakea, we have hosted student interns from the University of Wisconsin. For two consecutive years, we have provided internship opportunities that have proven to be deeply enriching experiences for the students, who worked alongside Sakea’s production teams and Eva Forssén. Feedback from the United States has been inspiring to read and hear. Our collaboration expanded to Tanzania this year, where two Wisconsin students, Grace and Kendall, worked with our partner schools and Tanzanian staff. They explored and reported — through social media — on the schooling of different disability groups and on our organization’s activities.
Kendall & Grace
As the year draws toward Christmas, we will once again open our traditional Christmas shop. We hope that as many as possible will find something meaningful there. Our self-financing share of the current project’s total funding is 7.5%, and we still have some way to go in raising that amount. We are particularly grateful to our monthly donors, whose steady support greatly strengthens our financial stability.
For those who may not know, all Finnish volunteers in our association work without any remuneration, which is reflected in our low administrative costs. Our domestic annual expenses consist mainly of bank service fees, internet costs, and meeting expenses.
Dear members, if you have not yet paid your membership fee, there is still room for it in our account:
FI81 5780 4120 0662 01, reference 2025041, recipient: FSE – Finnish Special Education in Africa.
For our international friends:
IBAN: FI81 5780 4120 0662 01, SWIFT code (BIC): OKOYFIHH, Reference number: RF81 2025 041
If you are unsure whether you have already paid, please contact Eva Forssén (eva.forssen[at]fsea.fi).
On behalf of myself and our organization, I wish you all a joyful beginning of autumn. Let us fully enjoy the colors of the season, the crisp mornings, and all the wonderful people we are privileged to meet along the way.
With warm greetings,
Antti Komulainen
Secretary, Project Coordinator
FSE – Finnish Special Education in Africa ry
www.fsea.fi