Jesper Salminen, Henry Boyd and Veeti Amegbedzi attended Citat’s video workshop in May with their tutor Ali Mahamed. All three boys play basketball, and so they produced a video about their hobby using the grant provided by Nordic Morning.
Mahis provides young people with meaningful activities and a feeling of success
Since the beginning of 2014, Nordic Morning has been supporting Mahis’ activities, which are organized by the Finnish Youth Academy. The purpose of Mahis is to help young people spend time together while doing something meaningful. Nordic Morning Group has provided financial support for Mahis’ projects that have included young people getting involved with communications.
Mahis’ activities are led by adults, who help young people come up with ideas for their projects and apply for Mahis grants from the Finnish Youth Academy.
“For us as a communications group, this is also an opportunity to inspire young people to get involved in communications and support them with our expertise,” says Annika Linna, Head of Communications.
Video has been the most popular form of expression in the projects supported by Nordic Morning. Three videos were produced in 2014. A group of boys from Jyväskylä made a video about their hobby, basketball, and young people from Imatra addressed the topic of bullying and its prevention. In addition, a group of young people from Helsinki produced a short film.
The second most popular form of expression has been photography. “For example, immigrant girls from Jyväskylä explored their identity by taking photos of each other, and a group of young people from eastern Finland started a photography project last November, aiming to practice their social skills and plan the way they spend their money,” Annika Linna says.
What matters most about Mahis is that young people do things together and gain positive experiences at the same time.
“These experiences can include gaining approval, making new friends, getting over something difficult or getting attention from peers or adults,” Annika Linna says.
A positive experience can also come from achieving something together. “Hopefully, the videos and photos produced in the Mahis projects supported by Nordic Morning will bring young people joy and strengthen their belief in themselves and their competencies,” Annika Linna says.
The Finnish Youth Academy specializes in the development and implementation of youth activities.