International Volunteer Day 5th of December
The UN International Volunteer Day is celebrated every year on the 5th of December to mark volunteers’ valuable contribution to society. In different places all over the world, also in Finland and Sweden, this day is celebrated through various events. For more information, please visit the European Volunteer Centre webpage . The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon about the event: ”The altruistic spirit of volunteerism is immense and renewable. On this International Volunteer Day, I urge all members of our global community to tap this great reserve of energy and initiative.”
World AIDS Day Music Caf
Each year, on 1 December the World AIDS Day calls for more awareness and action with regard to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. This year a group of voluntary organisers, among them the Peace Institute’s researchers Petra Granholm and Sarah Stephan, has seized the opportunity to put HIV/AIDS on the agenda and invited the public to a World AIDS Day Music Café at Röda korsgården.The idea behind the event was to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and provide a forum for the Ålanders to ask and discuss questions about the disease. At the same time the Music Café was a fund-raising event for the women’s group and nursery school “Kanyala Little Stars” on Rusinga Island in Kenya, an area that suffers immensely under the effects of HIV/AIDS.The evening was opened with a short seminar, held by chief medical officer Birger Sandell, on the infection, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. The initiator of the event Heidi Öst informed about her experiences as a volunteer at Kanyala Little Stars and her wish to support the project from the Åland Islands. The performances of the Ålandic folkmusic group “Kvinnfolk”, ”Hmpf…” and Ann Ahlström and Christopher Isaksson completed the successful evening.The Café was a great success […]