Volunteers at the Peace Institute

Philip Sjöwall:

I worked as a volunteer for the organization in Greece Archelon – the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece at their rescue center in Glyfada.

My work duties have mostly been cleaning the tank, wash turtles, given injections and drips, cleaning different kinds of wounds (head, skin, fins), transportedtortoises and various repair works etc.. Much of the work was also to take care of the center’s visitors, tourists, schools and other groups. This work involvedworking in our shop, presentations and give guided tours.

I also visited and worked on Archelon’s bech project in Crete and traveled around the inland and to some islands on my free time.

Gohar Mamikonyan, volunteer

Gohar Mamikonyan from Armenia was a volunteer at the ÅIPI from 01.10.2012 to 01.10.2013. She mainly worked in the framework of a gender equality project, helped to develop further projects in cooperation with Armenian organizations, also was involved in the whole scale of Peace Institute activities.
Gohar received her master in Political science and Public Administration from Yerevan State University. She speaks Armenian, Russian and English.

Gulnar Mammadova, volunteer

Gulnar Mammadova was a volunteer from Azerbaijan. She worked in the international cooperation projects with focus on gender equality, empowerment of young women, and youth exchanges from conflict regions. She was also involved in planning of new projects and assisted in overall activities of the ÅIPI. Previously she has worked in the Center for Strategic Studies of Azerbaijan where she made research on Arab uprising. Her current research interests in ÅIPI include Åland Islands’ experience of conflict resolution and autonomy, in relation to the Armenian-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict. She received her master’s degree in international relations from Baku State University in 2010. She speaks Azerbaijani (native), English and Russian, little Arabic and French.

Gunel Isakova: I was a volunteer from Zagatala, Azerbaijan and I did my EVS in ÅIPI, Mariehamn, Åland, Finland from 1^st of October 2011 for 10 months. The main theme of my service was gender equality and I have mainly assisted on Open Doors, a project establishing and promoting gender equality in Azerbaijan.

From the first day, I have felt support from each of staff members in every step. Thanks to staff members, now I understand Swedish much better than the first couple weeks. Also, I very much appreciate big support for my thesis writing about Åland example.

This project taught me a lot! I had an amazing experience during these 10 months.

Jeanette Mauricio is a journalist and has been a volunteer at the Peace Institute from 05.08.2010 to 31.05.2011. At the Peace Institute Jeanette has worked with supporting activities related to communication and gender issues. Jeanette has a Master’s degree in human rights, another Master’s degree in gender studies from Complutense University in Spain, and a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from National University San Marcos in Peru.
She has previously worked in different mass media and in the press office of the public administration for youth issues. Jeanette speaks Spanish, English and French.

Lukrecija was an EVS volunteer at the Peace Institute from August 2010 to June 2011. She comes from Lithuania and has a bachelor degree in Scandinavian (Swedish) philology from Vilnius University. The Swedish language, literature and culture were her main subjects. Lukrecija is very interested in languages, cultures and psychology and what is more, she is passionate about human rights issues. These are some of the reasons why she came to Åland to work at the Peace Institute. Her main responsibility has been the youth program, to keep contact with the neighbouring countries and especially with Lithuania. She speaks Lithuanian, Swedish and English.

Linda Johansson was working as a volunteer in Sarajevo from 15 August, 2010. You can find her impressions (in swedish) about her EVS here.

 Kamala Ramazanova from Azerbaijan was a volunteer at the Peace Institute from 27.07.2009 to 31.05.2010. Kamala is a journalist and previously worked as a reporter covering the foreign policy of Azerbaijan in ANSPress news agency. At the Peace Institute Kamala will mainly work with the creation of a network for co-operation on youth work between Åland and Azerbaijan. Her impressions about EVS can be download here.

Tamara Grigoryeva was a volunteer at the Peace Institute 05.11.2008-02.02.2009. She is a journalist and has previously worked as a reporter covering the foreign policy of Azerbaijan for French news agency AFP and Azeri news agency APA. At the Peace Institute Tamara will mainly work with the creation of a network for co-operation on youth work between Åland and Azerbaijan. Tamara has written a text about herself, on her thoughts on journalism and her expectations of her stay on Åland. This text can be downloaded here.

From 2nd of November 2008 to 31st of August 2009 Nina Westerholm from Mariehamn, Åland, is a volunteer in Greece. Nina is staying in Glyfada near Athens and helps with saving injured sea turtles within the organisation Archelon. Read about her adventures (in Swedish) in her blog.

Miquel Jordi Diez i Perez worked as a volunteer at the Peace Institute from March to December 2007. He comes from Elche (Alicante). Miquel has a degree in Political Science and Administration from the University of Granada.

Linda Karlsson has been a volunteer in Vilnius, Lithuania, where she worked at the Shelter for kids, Mintis. Linda is studying at the Uppsala university. Linda’s midterm report (in Swedish)

Jenny Lindgren has been a volunteer in Salzburg in Austria at the organisation Akzente Salzburg, where she worked at a kindergarten. Jenny’s midterm report (in Swedish)