how to inscribe as a volunteer, and the most important informations:

!NEWS: This Project have been conducted from October 2010 to Jully 2011 and is now in stand-by, with eventually a continuation in the next years (NOT CONFIRMED YET). 

Please refer to email of the leader of this project (11jozf@gmail.com) if you want to find out more informations about a possible continuation of Stone-Age and Wilderness-Living Project in Finland.

With all my wishes of your interest in this website,

Joseph Favre-Felix.

Before inscribing, dont forget to read VERY VERY CAREFULLY all the description below:

How to inscribe:

Check the page : http://www.alliance-network.eu/index.php?page=page2-1

If your country is mentioned in that page, choose one of the organizations, they should be able to inscribe you!

If your country is not mentioned, or if any other problem occurs, just send an email to 11jozf@gmail.com, with the detail of your wishes and situation, the answer should come as fast as possible.

Camp Name: primitive surviving project

The climate: The weather in Finland is quite unpredictable. But the winter is very very cold, probably the coldest af all Europe... Usually in winter, the minimum temperatures in Oulu region are as low as -40*C. We hope you will get psychologically ready for beeing most of the time outside and sleeping in shelters without heatings in these very challenging conditions!

SPECIAL ABOUT JUNE CAMP: The mosquitos are extremely violent and flying around in an absolutely huge amount! You have to know that during all the camp we will be constantly beaten and beaten again and again.

They make also so much noise that it is sometimes hard to sleep!!!

Location: North of Finland. OULU REGION. During the 3 weeks of each camp, usually, the 5 weekdays will stand in the stone-age village near the Kierikki Yli-ii Museum, and the weekends might stand in nature in different places around Yli-ii and sometimes as far as the East border of Finland if volunteers wishes so. This progam is flexible, and will be planed differently in each camp, following the weather and the group interests.

The place: The camp is organised by the Kierikki Stone Age Centre, which is an archaeological exhibition and activity centre in Northern Finland. There is an archaeological museum as well as reconstructed Stone Age village with different activities related to the Stone Age. You can check it all on the website www.kierikki.fi. Yli-Ii is a small and quiet village of around 2300 inhabitants. In the village there are a couple of grocery stores, a pharmacy, a post office and a health centre. Yli-Ii is situated in the crossing of two rivers, the rivers Iijoki and Siuruanjoki. The nearest city is Oulu about 60 km away.

The Goal: a 100% outdoor living workcamp, in a wild forested environment, including a daily work using stone age technologies and producing stone age objects .

Our aim is much more about living primitively outdoors using stone age technologies, than about concrete ''surviving''...

Dates:

18/10/2010----05/11/2010 special “ last mushroom/berries season”

15/11/2010----03/12/2010 special “first snows”

13/12/2010----31/12/2010 special “winter wild christmas”....> WARNING!! This “winter wild christmas” camp dates changed and will be: 8/12/2010----21/12/2010!

7/02/2011----25/02/2011 special “boreal winter”

7/03/2011----25/03/2011 special “light winter spring”

11/04/2011----29/04/2011 special “sunny spring season”

NEW CAMP!: 13/06/2011---01/07/2011 special ''neversetting sun'' (and special ''mosquitos'' too:))

type of work:

Environment-Archaeology

Numvol: 7 (males + females) places for volunteers

min_age: 18+   good health required…

Accommodation and Food:  Accommodation is inside a reconstituted stone age shelter (The shelter is primitive so not always water proof or warm. Doors are pieces of ladder. So a shelter without any heating system or doors!), as well as in hiking refuges and even igloos in winter! Confort will be very very basic (water from lakes and rivers, cooking on fire…).

Once again, be ready for outdoor cold life for the 3 weeks, and bring with you a lot of motivation toward washing ourselfes outdoor and using outdoor toilets etc.

Food will be partly fished and collected from nature, but in big majority bought. You prepare all the meals by yourselves on wood fire, using as much self-gathered food and self-catched fish. But we dont expect this wild food to be such a big part of our meals, and most food will be bought from supermarket... As learning how to catch food is long and need much of experience, small quatities catched will be very satifying for us!

-We do NOT practice any kind of hunting in any camp (as some volunteers believed before to arrive).

-In some camps, there will probably be no big chances for fishing, because the icy river is beginning to melt or beggining to freeze and is dangerous to walk on...if the river melt or freeze very fast, then we would be lucky and able to fish.

-We are right now working on the the project of getting only ''stone age food'' for the camp... So if this plan works, there is a chance that all the food we would have would be ONLY FISH AND BERRIES (in big quantities of course, dont be afraid to be hungry, but be ready for possibly the same food all the time breakfast-luch-dinner for 3 weeks withy only fish and berries, as stone age people would eat...).

If you have limitations with food, let us know! We can not promise to provide any dietary specialties.

You have to be prepared to spend three weeks without internet!

So please make all hostels and transport reservations and send urgent mails before the beginning of the camp, that is very important so that it dont disturb you during our workcamp!                                       I remind you that you should get rid of all internet needs so that you dont need it during the camp... So please please buy all your tickets already and be responsible about this.

Extrafee: 100 Euros (used to pay fishing licenses, firewood, extra food, and material for the project). This is a non-profit project, and all the extra fees are only going to run the project and so never ending in the pocket of anyone, the campleader beeing also volunteer. The Museum is a public structure.

IMPORTANT INSURANCE INFORMATION: 

This work camp host does NOT have insurance for the volunteers so  we expect you to have a travel insurance for your whole stay. So you need to have a travel insurance card or other document as a proof and the camp leader will collect the insurance information in the beginning of the camp.

Considering this situation, Here bellow is the text that the campleader will ask you to sign when you arrive:

The Kierikki Stone Age Center and Joseph Favre-Felix, leader of the Primitive Surviving Project in

wich you are taking part are wishing to inform you about the following facts:

 The camp you are participating in is held under your own personal responsability.

 We decline all responsabilities in any accident, disease or damage that might happen to you, to any

other participant, or that you might cause during this camp.

Kierikki Stone Age Center is hosting these workcamps and Joseph Favre-Felix, the campleader, is

initiating volunteer, including you, to different primitive surviving techniques and other activities.

Hereby many activities are comporting a part of danger, as for exemple the work with sharp tools, ice

fishing, very cold conditions of living and sleeping, between many others risky activities.

We are trying to imply as much safty in our activities as possible, but it is very important that you

engage your own responsability in taking part in all these activities, under your own judgement of

danger.

We do not provide any insurance cover, so each volunteer is required to come with his own travel/

medical insurance.

By signing this paper, you are confirming your total responsability taken in any actions and activities

hold in the Primitive Surviving workcamp.

Work: The aim of the project is to offer the possibility for volunteers to learn, experience and perform in the Finnish wild woods: lake ancestral fishing techniques, wild food harvesting (plants, berries, mushrooms), surviving basic skills, handcrafting from natural surrounding materials, initiations to stone-age primitive technologies, group life solidarity and teamwork in very simple conditions, as well as some ancient rhythmic of living.The working days are officially from Monday to Friday for about 6-7 hours each day.

The aim of the camp is to create a Stone Age revival by living inside the reconstructed Stone Age buildings. The village you live in is situated about 500 meters from the Kierikki Stone Age centre main building. You will also work with finishing and decorating of two Stone Age house reconstructions built in the earlier summers in the Kierikki Stone Age village. Some maintenance work is also to be done in the Stone Age Village. You will also collect fire wood, and fish and gather part of your food (NO HUNTING). The work will be physical, and in cold conditions, so be prepared for that. The work can also take form of any kind of help that the Stone Age Centre might need. We hope for an open-minded attitude from you. It is even possible wear Stone Age style clothes while working in the village! There is almost each day people, notably childrens, visiting the stone age center and houses. One task for volunteers would also be to interract with them, show them their daily work, initiate them sometimes to bow shooting and other stone age technologies.

We hope that you will come back with a lot of experience of basic surviving skills, handcraftingskills from natural materials, basic skills on primitive technology, skills in skin tanning and knowledge of edible flora and fauna. The camp leader will do his best to teach you these things.

ANOTHER VERY VERY IMPORTANT POINT: Exept practicing, we will also be "preparing the other camps", wich means collecting wood, collecting stones, sometimes even with the help of a tractor or car...and things that are just "normal work" so that we will be able to get enought material for the winter time camps, when snow make these "modern" collects impossible...

Also, considering how skilled will be each group, we will decide either to go far from the base camp or stay much closer...These are following also safety issues;

I hope you read these lignes carrefully, they are very important to understand, as far as our camps are "workcamps" wich means it is NOT a commercial or sportive project... It is a place of experimentation, with good and bad surprises, with the building of a group, with the notion of work, volunteering, and flexible expectations... 

Wheater might be very cold, very dark, work tiring some days... So a strong will and motivation is very important to go over it! These primitive surviving camps are very new and i hope you will be able undersand that we dont have experience yet of these... We will get this experience together, i hope in the better way possible.

Terminal: Nearest train Station is Oulu. From Oulu, buses each day (EXEPT WEEKENDS) to Yli-ii.

How to get to Yli-Ii: You will probably be flying to Helsinki or to Oulu. It takes about 6-8 hours by train from Helsinki to Oulu. From the Oulu Airport you need to take a bus to the city, and find your way to the central bus station. The bus station is just nearby the train station. The Kierikki Stone Age Centre staff will pick you up from the Oulu bus station on the first day of the camp, in the morning at 7.30. When leaving Yli-Ii after the camp, the staff will again give you a ride to Oulu. We leave on the last day at 4 p.m.

NOTE: It is also possible to travel between Oulu and Yli-Ii by bus on weekdays, if you can not arrange your schedule to meet ours. If that is the case, please inform us about your travel plan! The bus does not drive to the Stone Age Centre but in the Yli-Ii village (5 kilometres from the Stone Age Centre), so we need to pick you up from there. Bus timetables (also in English) can be found at www.matkahuolto.fi . Foreign students are not entitled to student discounts on train or bus tickets in Finland.

Other activities:

You will learn things about the Finnish Stone Age in the Kierikki centre. You can entertain yourselves with Stone Age activities, for example making stone tools, using primitive music instruments, or shooting with an ancient bow. You can decide yourselves what to do on your freetime. On weekends, it is possible to travel to Oulu with the Stone Age Centre staff. IF THAT IS YOUR PLAN, THEN IT IS VERY SUGGESTED THAT YOU ARRANGE IN ADVANCE AN ACCOMODATION. http://www.couchsurfing.org/ IS A FREE NETWORK OF HOSPITALITY, IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN OULU FOR FREE. If you want to visit other cities or places in Finland during your free days (weekends), that’s also possible. We can help you with the arrangements. However, you have to pay the travelling and other expenses yourself.

Hitchiking micht be proposed during the duration of the camps.

Special requirements: A motivation letter (send to tiina.hokkanen@alli.fi and to 11jozf@gmail.com) ; a general good health and abilities to efforts in cold conditions is extemely important (this camp will be quite physical!).

These are the average minimum (THE EXTREME MINIMUMS CAN BE MUCH COLDER!!) temperatures in Oulu for each month:

October: +1*C November: -4*C December: -11*C January: -12*C February: -14*C March: -8*C April: -3*C May: 3*C

What you need to bring (we are beeing most of the time outside and sleeping in houses withoutheatings in very cold conditions, so please be sure you got all needed material!):

-THE MOST IMPORTANT: a sleeping bag suitable for minus temperatures (it is often that the temperature is more cold than -20 Celcius during the night!)

- camping mattress & eventually pillow

- a backpack

- eventually a tent (if you have one, bring one)

- practical, warm and waterproof clothes, that can get dirty:

- a very good winter jacket

- at least 3 woolen pullovers

- pant for winter and snow

- one or 2 warm (wool) underpants

- at least 4 pairs of wool socks

- a winter hat

- two pairs of gloves including one warm pair of MITTENS (much warmer that normal gloves) for cold, and one pair of working gloves (if possible waterproof)

- 1 pair of warm hiking/walking (strong, winter) boots, for snow.

- 1 pair of rubber boots and a raincoat

- Gaiters for snow

- a head lamp and a lot of spare batteries

- a compas

- games and music instruments would be great to bring to enliven our long dark nights!

- some extra money

- personal things, and medication if needed

-JUNE CAMP: a very strong mosquito repellant, enough for the 3 weeks, and ear plugs to be able to sleep if the noise of mosquitoes is too strong! Be aware!

IT IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE ALL THIS MATERIAL.

IN SOME PREVIOUS CAMPS SOME VOLUNTEERS DIDNT HAD ALL OF IT, BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT "Oh we will manage it anyway" AND IT HANDICAPED ALL THE GROUP A LOT.

WE CANNOT MAKE OUR ACTIVITIES IF YOU DONT BRING ALL OF THIS WITH YOU.

TAKE THIS LIST EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY, PLEASE. EVERY ELEMENT IS NEEDED.

I hope you will bring with you ALSO ideas of games, maybe music instruments, or anything that can make our long nights enliven and joyfull

Notice that it is against the Finnish law to possess, sell or use any kind of drugs. Furthermore it’s not acceptable to have alcohol at the work camp either.

Important: All the objects produced by the volunteers of the project are staying in Kierikki...

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