Helsinki-based Salla Heijari wanted to help the Ukrainians. He started a campaign in which Finnish companies offer jobs to Ukrainian creative professionals.
Andriy Boyar, 34, answers a video call from central Ukraine. He has fled there to war with his wife and their cat.
An electric guitar hangs on the wall. Spring light falls on Boyar’s face from the window.
– It would be good to sit a little further away from the windows because of the shards – unlike I do now, Boyar smiles and nods in the direction of the window.
The couple had a home in Irpin near Kiev, but it has been destroyed in the bombing. Now Boyar is trying to find jobs.
– We need money if we want to get a new apartment after the war.
Just before the war broke out, Boyar and his friends were preparing to launch skateboards made in Ukraine. He is also the editor-in-chief of an online magazine about skateboarding. In addition, he has designed record covers.
The illustrations made with the collage technique were one of the reasons why he received a work order from Finland at the beginning of April.
The design and architecture event Helsinki Design Week ordered an annual photo from Boyar.
Program Director Anni Korkman says the event in September will have a new look every year.
“Making an annual photo is one of the ways we talk about things that seem important to us at the moment,” says Korkman.
The program director says the team has been thinking about how they could help the Ukrainians.
According to Boyar, it is now difficult to find jobs in Ukraine. He sent messages to friends and friends of friends that he was looking for work. Through it, he heard about the Hiring For Peace campaign.
The Hiring For Peace campaign, launched in March, encourages Finnish creative companies to offer job opportunities to Ukrainian professionals. There are currently about 50 jobs available. One of those who posted on the page was Helsinki Design Week.
According to program director Korkman, the campaign was just the right way to help.
– Music has always been important to me. Before the war, I listened to music every day, but now I no longer feel like listening to it.
Butša used to be popular with families
Shocking images of the small town of Butsha last weekend spread around the world, with the bodies of local residents lying on the streets. Boyar is familiar with the place.
– Before the war, I often cycled there with my friends for coffee. Now everything is destroyed. Before, it was an ordinary small town where families lived with their children.
Butša, Hostomel and Irpin are all located near Kiev. There have been fierce fighting in their territory since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Boyar lived in Irpin with his wife. The wife is a French teacher by profession.
– In Kiev, housing prices are high. That’s why families with children in particular moved to these three cities near Kiev, Boyar says.
After the Russian invasion, the couple fled to Kiev because they did not have bomb shelter in Irpin. As the war intensified, they moved 300 kilometers from Kiev.
– It was hard to believe that from your own window you can see planes and helicopters bombing houses.
Both Boyar’s own and his wife’s parents have fled the war abroad.
Now the couple lives in Kropyvnytsky in central Ukraine. Before the war, more than 200,000 people lived there, which means that the city is roughly the size of Oulu.
– The heating is playing and there is food in the shops. There are soldiers on the streets checking the papers at roadblocks. There are air alarms every day.
The campaign started with a feeling of helplessness
– This has been a night job that has been done in addition to my own day job, Heijari laughs when asked about the amount of time spent.
He says the campaign, which started in March, has been well received by creative companies. It has been implemented in collaboration with the visual communications organization Grafia.
Initially, a similar campaign began in Lithuania. Heijari followed it and found the concept to work. He contacted and asked if the campaign could be extended to Finland.
– I’ve experienced helplessness. I’ve been wondering how I could provide help and small-scale solutions to help them
Twenty companies have now offered jobs to Ukrainians through the campaign. There are about 50 vacancies. Some are jobs in Finland and some work that can be done remotely, as in the case of Boyar.
There is certainly enough work for Ukrainians in Helsinki: the Helsinki Chamber of Commerce according to (you switch to another service) employment in the capital has been clearly growing. More part-time work is now being done.
Helsinki Design Week received twenty applications from Ukrainians.
– It was great to go through the answers. I believe that every Finn would want to help. Finding ways to fight your own powerlessness, says program director Anni Korkman.
Awareness of the campaign has spread in Ukraine, especially among younger somes. According to Salla Heijar, it can be estimated from the portfolios that most of them are recent graduates with only a couple of years of work experience. They would have a strong need for a job, he says.
Heijari hopes that companies will consider how to lower the access of people from different backgrounds to interesting jobs. He hopes that the debate will continue after the war in Ukraine.
The phrase “After We Win the War” is repeated as Andriy Boyar speaks. Yet it is difficult for him to think about the future.
The worst part is that you no longer see the future.
– It’s hard to live in a world where you don’t know if it’s tomorrow. Normally, make plans ahead. Thinking about buying an apartment or vacationing.
You can discuss this topic until Friday, April 8 at 11 p.m.