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Chaff Party Celebrating Summer |
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By Gabor Valter
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Tuesday, 10 June 2008 |
 On 13th June Chaff will hold a summer party get together with the purpose of meeting new faces and old friends, Finns and foreigners alike. The party will take place at Kandintie 3D, at the club room and gardens in the Synimaa area of Oulu, and it will kick off at 5pm. According to the organizers, Chaff is an informal volunteer network of people who are eager to provide help to Finns and foreigners alike.
Chaff has started some three years ago when a small group of people found themselves talking and discussing in an internet café about everyday issues of immigrating to and settling down in Oulu. Soon it has became a regular meeting of an increasing number of people until they have outgrown the café and decided to found the ‘Chamber of Assistance for Finns and Foreigners’. According to Chaff organizers, ‘social networking is the magic word for a new comer in real time, real space Oulu.’ Foreigners, who have left much of their lives behind, need to network and Chaff provides this opportunity. According Chaff member Gabor Valter, ‘Chaff members are involved in all areas in their professional and personal lives’. Assistance often is simple as giving a lift to someone in an odd hour of the day to be at the airport, or picking up someone else. There are a couple of members whose trailers I believe are in standby all the time ready to be picked up by anyone who needs a vehicle shifting furniture between locations.’ People help each other providing interpretation and translating often accompanying the other to an office, the doctor or another institution. Up until March this year Chaff has had regular Sunday meeting which have stopped and now they are exploring new ways of meeting up in numbers more or less regularly. ‘Chaff has a unique character to it, there aren’t any other non formal, non structured, somewhat anarchic organisation resembling an ant colony if anything, as Chaff,’ says one of the members. ‘Now hoping to grow its reach we dream of creating and organisation that may become a welcome platform in Oulu, like an umbrella providing a getaway to all sorts of other networks while maintaining the basic principles: ‘do you need help in anything?’ and ‘Lets find someone who can give a hand!’ Chaff can be found on its website, www.ouluchaff.com or alternatively on Facebook.
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