“My job is to seek solutions to social problems”
There are experts and professionals from several different sectors working at the Finnish Red Cross. We employ people with various work and educational backgrounds.
Anja Saksola, Specialist in Online Counselling and Support:
“At the Red Cross, my role is to respond to changes in society. When a problem occurs, my job is to seek solutions to it. This is exactly what motivates me about working for a non-profit organisation.
The need to offer help online emerged when we noticed that the provision of face-to-face help to lonely people does not reach all of the lonely people in Finland: The distances are long. Young people prefer to use the Internet. Moreover, many people have physical, mental or financial barriers, which may leave the Internet as their only option for contact with other people.
My job is to plan how we can provide help in increasingly diverse ways and reach more and more people. The help offered must also be easier to find. The best part is that the Internet allows us to actually provide help throughout Finland and for people around the world who speak Finnish.
I became a Red Cross employee through volunteering. I started out as a volunteer trainer for friend activities. Friend activities pair up those longing for a friend and those who wish to become a friend. I was an unemployed teacher, and my volunteer role immediately had me hooked. Volunteering changed the course of my career. I realised that I want to make it my job to help people become involved in communities.
Even now, it still gives me an enormous amount of energy to see volunteers make plans come true. There are so many things that we have achieved!”