Soon after that, a new foreigner turned up at a meeting, in trouble. A Finnish businessman had cheated this foreigner of money, had not payed him for legitimate work. This, they felt, was the first test of what the group could do. The group strategised: the foreigner got paid in full.

Foreign students with financial problems and no job possibilities started turning up at the meetings. They were guided to places where they could get food cheaply, in some cases for free.

The group continued to grow. Someone requested food at the meeting: the next meeting was held in a restaurant - a great success. The subject of name was raised again. An acronym, CHAFF, was suggested, standing for ‘Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners.’ The word CHAFF has two meanings in the English language: one, the mass of husks separated from grain seeds during threshing; two, light-hearted.

Thus, the word CHAFF is an appropriate description of CHAFF participants. It is the CHAFF which contains most of the valuable nutrients of grain; yet CHAFF which is fed to animals rather than human beings. The CHAFF participants are, therefore, the valuable rubbish of Oulu.

As providence would have it, the Pailin Restaurant in the Kasarmi area had to move premises one Saturday afternoon. The Thai proprietors of that restaurant were at their wits’ end.  How could they move all the heavy equipment and furniture without prohibitive costs? A CHAFF participant happened to pass by and hear their cry for help. Four telephone calls were made to those who had been attending CHAFF meetings. In less than an hour's time, twelve people descended on the restaurant and helped move everything - for free. The restaurant was back in business by the evening.

Finns have a system, ‘talkoo,’ where people of a locality help one another in the good spirit of the community. No such system has existed for foreigners in Finland who have not yet become part of a community. This, then, is the first gap plugged by CHAFF.

One day the local newspaper mentioned two young youth workers arrived in Oulu, one from France and the other from India. The latter had saved lives and rescued bodies after the tsunami in South India.

A CHAFF member visited them and invited them to a meeting. This, the two youngsters felt, was a God-send. They said they had felt lonely, shut up in their rooms on Sunday afternoons. By the time they became regular attendees, the group had moved to meet at the Pailin Restaurant. Most CHAFFs like a good meal. The restaurant served a special buffet at a low price and offered free teas and coffees for the group. Some with low income were given their food at half-price. If any person was unable to meet even this cost, members of the CHAFF group chipped in and paid.

CHAFFs have acted over the last year with little pomp and show. Persons with psychiatric problems were visited in hospital and after release from care, welcomed into the group as a form of rehabilitation. Persons with problems of excessive alcoholic consumption were, with love and affection, helped to cure their addiction. Certainly this is not in competition with Alcoholics Anonymous. Instead, CHAFF helps people go to that organisation for real help.

Persons without accommodation were helped with emergency housing: CHAFF participants welcomed them into their homes. When visiting foreigners need to live with Finnish families, CHAFFs step forward and offer their help.

A young German researcher landed in Oulu and was picked up at the airport by a CHAFF participant. She was taken to the Pailin Restaurant where she straightaway found friends who spoke German. A few days later, attending a CHAFF meeting, she was surprised to find herself sharing a table with the authors of the German guide book Culture Shock Finland.

CHAFF has made the world seem very small. CHAFF attendees are chief executives of international organisations, researchers from world’s universities, medium and small business persons from Oulu, social workers, youth workers, University Union Board members, activists, authors, artists, software engineers, students, and many many simple people.

During the last year CHAFFs have tackled over a hundred problems with bureaucracy, police, spouses, and health and social issues. One youngster, whom CHAFF participants helped sponsor, won the Gold Medal for his attempts of playing serious sport in Oulu. Another was helped to exploit his music talent and has cut his first CD.

It is quite difficult for many recipients of help to understand the concept of CHAFF. Why would someone want to help someone else? Is there an ulterior motive?  Even those needing help doubt the reasons that motivate CHAFFs. What about those who have received unconditional help from CHAFF? Do they then have the resolve and time to render help to someone else, or do they think that receiving help to solve their problem was unique and they move on, forgetting the help that was given to them?