New Year !!

New Year has started…

Had really nice week leading to Xmas…attended a friend’s sisters’ wedding (Mehndi and shaadi) with my friends, and we had my colleague’s birthday party on 23rd, but then unfortunately got sick on my Xmas eve on 24th December, so spent that day at home watching movies and old Xmas classic ‘Snowman’, but had amazing Xmas celebrations on 25th December, which is not only Xmas day but also Jinnah’s (Founder of Pakistan) birthday! We had UN like Xmas with Sri Lankan-Pakistani-Canadian-Australian-Finnish-Russian-Italian Xmas dinner with yummy food! The next day we celebrated Boxing Day on the beach with many friends!
After Xmas holidays have become addicted to Bollywood movies and have been attending many weddings and birthdays, and at work we have interesting elections for local and national teams coming up, and many new trainees coming to Karachi! Exciting!

From cold Islamabad to sunny Karachi

The Finnish crew with the Ambassador Lipponen, picture in a local newspaper

Me and my 3 Finnish friends travelled to Islamabad on first days of December to celebrate Finnish independence Day at the Finnish consulate in Islamabad...After sightseeing trip which included beatiful Faisal Mosque, the Monument and Saidpur Village we headed for the Finnish consulate where there were around 200 guests in the reception, and it was interesting to meet diplomats from different countries and most importantly to hear the stories of the other Finns living in Pakistan...like one lady who had been living in Pakistan for 42 years and some others who work for the embassy, Finnish companies or for the UNMOGIP! It was also great to listen to Finnish National Anthem and taste Finnish food...the next day sightseeing continued in the Red Zone with Parliament buildings and admiring the amazingly beautiful sunset from the cozy Monaal restaurant in the gorgeous mountains...Islamabad is green,clean,well-planned,cold and very pretty, the most European city in Pakistan...actually reminds me of Bogota a lot, as it is situated in a valley in-between beautiful mountains, has many pretty parks and cozy cafes...and the coldness and green spaces remind me of Finland! After a fun-filled party with the UN military observers and more gorgeous Finnish food (mashed potatoes and veggies), the other Finns returned back to Karachi, and I stayed in Islamabad and went to admire the Lakeview Park...and the pretty pillars by the lake reminded me of Italy!

For the next 5 days I was busy going from company and NGO meetings to another, whilst coaching and training the local AIESEC chapter, and met a lot of interesting people, and many potential places to work next year...whether it is NGO, company or embassy, Islamabad is full of great opportunities!

My trip ended with 25hour bus ride to Karachi with buses reminescent of the ones I travelled from south of Peru to north of Colombia few years ago with the luxyry bus hostesses, movies and refreshments...

Now we are preparing for Xmas...and got a Xmas calendar, hat and candle from my mum from Finland, and have been joyfully opening the scout Xmas calendar (like I have done since my childhood), listening to Xmas songs and decorating my room and changing to Xmassy red curtains ;)

From AIESEC conference to another...

The time just flies by…can’t believe that I have been now 6 months in Pakistan!

Past 6 weeks have been filled with work, as we had 2 of our biggest conferences EVER in AIESEC Pakistan history!



Over 200 university students from Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi participated in the 5 day conference, themed 'Beyond the Limits’ from 3rd to 7th November. This conference celebrated 5 years of AIESEC in Pakistan and was the largest conference in AIESEC in Pakistan’s history! During the conference delegates were trained on soft skills such as communication and leadership, as well as practical training on sales, branding, finance, and HR. Participants also took part in exchange simulations challenging their worldview through interactive sessions about environment and empowerment. After 2 weeks of hard work and 2 day intensive pre-meeting, it was delightful to see the energetic and motivated new AIESEC recruits, dance AIESEC role calls with them, and enjoy the amazing conference atmosphere! It was tiring though, as had to work a lot during the conference, and only slept 10 hours in 5 days! I couldn’t even rest after the conference, but almost straight from the airport had to go to a UN press conference on flood relief, and network with companies and NGOs and represent AIESEC. That week before Eid holidays I was crazy busy with many company meetings and preparations for our biggest ever public event, Youth 2 Business Forum, which I was co-organising with our local chapter. We were lucky to have most of the preparations done before Eid, and thus was able to relax half of the 5 day holidays…and started my holidays with visiting a beauty salon and getting a haircut, and manicure and pedicure first time in my life! Amazing!

Eid holidays were certainly interesting! The first day of the Eid-ul-Azha, we spent at one of AIESEC members house enjoying lovely food, getting mehndi (henna) done on our hands, playing Taboo game and going for an interesting trip around the city seeing blood, intestines, cow heads, and bomb blast sites…as during Eid Muslims sacrifice animals, and we witnessed a sacrifice of a goat (bakra).



Eid with interns

The second day had lunch with our Board chair in this amazing house…the houses here are like castles, like the houses you dreamt of when you were child! The elite lives here like kings, and many times I wish I could live like that too, as all my friends here have such life style, and the latest fashion clothes, Cucci bags etc, whereas I wear cheap clothes bought from bazaars! The women here especially dress very fancy, and always have their make up and hair done, and I always go to meetings with flustered hair and no make up after the winded riksha rides!

In any case my Eid holidays were pretty short, as had to work for AIESEC global legislation, as there is no Eid in AIESEC HQ in Rotterdamn…unfortunately our internet wasn’t working for a week, and hardy no cafes were open, but somehow managed to go online to connect with other AIESEC presidents around the world…and successfully led the legislation for over 90 people from different countries…interesting affair indeed! Though my internet connection, headphones and computer weren’t working, but somehow managed to pull off this virtual affair using multiple technologies like Skype, gtalk and Adobe…incredibly for me who doesn’t really know how to use any technical devices!



Mubarak beach with Rotary friends

Over the Eid went to Mubarak Village with some friends, and really enjoyed swimming in the moon light with plankton shimmering in our hands, and enjoying the bonfire and talking about Politics…what a retreat for me! For relaxation have been watching also zillions of movies, as have been too tired to do anything else than watch no-brainer movies like Night at the Museum, Rebound etc and eating too many peanut butter which I’m slightly allergic to…oh, well!

Last week was just crazy busy juggling Youth 2 Business Forum (Y2B) preparations, global legislation and finishing off the graphics for our annual report…and ended up working for 17hours straight one day, as had to finish off everything that day…thanks to Pepsi, RedBull and Pizza Hut somehow survived through that day! Was supposed to work half day the next days, but surely ended up working full days, as some speakers were cancelling at the last minute. But in the end the annual report turned out really well, and Youth 2 Business Forum on 27th November was a great success with over 100 students from Karachi and interior Sindh, over 25 companies and over 6 media appearances… Prominent speakers such as Amin Hashwani, Sardar Rahim and Nusrat Ali spoke on issues concerning the youth of today in relation to their active involvement in the affairs of the corporate world in the future. The subjects of Labour Mobility, CSR and Entrepreneurship were discussed at great length with enthusiastic involvement from the participants through highlighted speeches, workshops e.g. by Google and Unilever, and panel discussion hosted by renowned journalist Saima Mohsin…it was a honour to host such a great event, where the youth and businesses really came together to discuss the societal issues in Pakistan and finding solutions together! Such events really make a difference in peoples’ lives, and get them thinking, and I could see the spark and interest in peoples’ eyes when they talked about how they want to change their own society and how the corporates were willing to give their helping hand…it was truly beautiful, was I am happy to have been one of the main organisers and host for this event, and introducing the concept in Pakistan! The Y2B Forum was followed by partners’ dinner at Marriott, where partners and AIESECers talked about the importance of AIESEC, and in Pakistan it is really needed for educating the leaders for tomorrow (actual reality here), and bringing about societal change through projects, and improving Pakistan’s image through the foreign trainees!



Y2B Team





After such hectic 6 weeks, I had two days off, and was simply watching movies, doing laundry and other mundane house things, and just felt empty, because all my urgent deadlines were successfully fulfilled, but still have many pending work stuff to do…and still was getting texts, calls and emails which somehow had to answer even on my day off! Could only have day off without phone and internet…and therefore thinking of going away for Xmas…and now listening to Xmas carols, and dreaming of white Xmas in wintery Karachi (still 25 degrees), and paradoxically feeling cold at night although the temperature is the same as Finnish summer!! Good times!

Living the happiness…

After coming back from India, where I was thinking a lot about my happiness, I have changed my life around, and really started loving Karachi and my life in Pakistan!

I wanted to be happy every day, and do things that truly matter to me…so the day after I came back from India was helping out local Rotary Club to pack food and supplies for the flood victims, and few days later accompanied them, and my Finnish friends to Pakistani navy flood relief camp at Malik, Thatta (interior Sindh), and it was very interesting to see the well-organised flood camp, but also heartbreaking to see small children running around without clothes in the burning sun, and them looking at us from their tents and coming to greet the unfamiliar sight, as these people live in villages where you hardly ever see any foreigners around.



Me and Rotary people with the children at Malik



After the flood camp trip, the Eid was here…for 4 days we were just chilling out, and spending nice time with the interns, as everyone was busy with their families and relatives, but we cooked awesome Finnish-Sri Lankan-Russian dinner with the interns, and had a nice dinner with the Rotary Club members, and in last day of Eid had awesome day at the beach, and were invited to AIESEC dinner with the interns and members…must have been some of the most relaxing days since many years!



Me and the Finnish girls at Eid

Besides, volunteering for flood relief, have started challenging myself with cooking and drawing, first every day, then few times a week, as hadn’t drawn almost anything for 10 years! Was also acting in a play over two weeks ago at Arts Council, and was interviewed to local TV about it. It was very interesting to be acting in English in modern Urdu play about the life in Karachi, and was surprised about the bustling underground theatre and music scene in Pakistan!

Also, went to karaoke with my Finnish friend, and started dancing salsa again, and even tried out playing base guitar after 6 years! So have fully unleashed my long-lost creativity with drawing, singing, dancing, acting…and feel a lot happier!
Surely been also spending more time with friends, and going to the beach nearly every week, crabbing with interns…said goodbye to a Finnish friend, and welcomed a new Finnish intern…so, we have a good Finnish community in Karachi, and we have been invited to Independence Day dinner in Islamabad in December!

A week ago I started writing my dissertation after reading few books and journal articles on Pakistan, and writing about Pakistani politics in Karachi is so interesting, as I’m living the things that I read about in the books, by staying at home when there are riots on the streets, my play and work being cancelled due to a shooting of MQM leader in London, or a bomb blast in sufi shrine just one kilometre away from my home…but the craziest thing is that today a friend of mine from UK messaged me and asked whether I was okay after the weekend, and I wasn’t even aware that 40 people had been killed due to elections at Orangi Town! My life isn’t affected by these unfortunate events, and the media portrays Karachi and Pakistan in much more negative light than things really are…yes, things happen, but life goes on…and people have started to awaken to the inconsistencies in the society and are trying to do their bit to help out…e.g. a lot of people, NGOs and companies are doing their share for the flood relief, which hardly got any international media attention at first, although over 20million people have been affected, and over 1600 people killed, which makes it one of the worst natural crises in the world, worse than Indonesian tsunami in 2004 or Haiti earthquake earlier this year. One of my friends single-handedly raised 20 million rupees through her foreign friends, and another company, JS Bank, has set up 8 flood camps for thousands of flood victims, and I visited their camp last week in Sahwen Sharif and I was so glad to see the kids being schooled after the devastation, and although their village nearby is still under water…we had to take a boat to see the underwater villages, where only bits of bigger houses or some mosques are on top of the water…images that you normally only see in documentaries or in news…



Children at Malik flood camp

Since I was 5 years old, when I wanted to become singer and UN Ambassador, I have wanted to do my bit for the society, and have been involved with scouts for 15 years, and done volunteering with disabled people, but it is only here in Pakistan that I can directly affect the society around me…In fact, Pakistan has so many possibilities to offer…it is not every day you could go to radio shows to talk about your work, or being interviewed by local TV, or being offered a job for which you have no qualifications for, or start teaching salsa professionally, or actually living the events you are writing dissertation about or volunteering for flood relief…and feel perfectly at home here doing work that matters, interacting with various companies, trainees and people around Pakistan, going to the beach to enjoy boogie boarding at the Arabian sea, admire beautiful sun sets from our rooftop…



Play TV interview about AIESEC

From Ramadan to conference in India

Planting trees with the Finns in India, article at Tulip Magazine

It has been almost 3 months since I wrote last time, so the time goes fast…well, one thing is for sure, life aint boring in Karachi…in first days of August, MQM leader got shot in Karachi, and due to riots and unrest in the city we were off work for couple of days, chilling out with interns and watching Twilight saga…unfortunately it was my friend’s birthday that day, so her birthday party got cancelled, but luckily we managed to have triple birthday on 6th August for her, me and my work colleague.



Our pretty birthday cake!

During those weeks Pakistan got a lot of negative attention due to the plane crash which killed about 150 people near Islamabad, MQM leader being killed and the devastating floods, when the President Zardari was away in London, and shoe was thrown at him as protest…I also got my share of Zardari protests, when I happened to walk in I-I Chundigarh Road, as there were no rikshas around, and wanted to go to my theatre rehearsals at Arts Council, and caught a riksha for few metres until we were made to stop at police barricades…there I was the only foreigner and woman around heavily-armed police, security guards, military with and a bunch of PPP supporters with bats, and never been stared at so much, but luckily one nice man, who turned to be a naval officer, noticed me alone in the street and escorted me to my theatre rehearsals, where I found out that these were protests against GEO for showing the Zardari shoe episode in London…long live media freedom!

The week after Islam’s Holy Month, Ramadan, started on 12th August, and after many talks and hesitation, I decided to try out fasting for the flood victims. The idea behind Ramadan is truly beautiful in that you are supposed to feel more connected to the nature, to your spirituality, and understand the suffering of others, and this time around Ramadan had more meaning behind it due to the immense floods in Pakistan. The first couple of days of no water and no food until the sunset were very easy to me, and felt very energetic, and ate only small dinner in the evenings (trying to avoid the overeating that generally happens during Ramadan), and didn’t even get up for saheri at dawn. Some of our interns from Turkey, Finland and Canada also tried out fasting, and then every day we broke the fast together and had iftar together at home or at restaurants. 14th August was Pakistan’s Independe Day, and generally people spend the day with their families, and you see a lot of flags everywhere, and have dinner at nice restaurant, and watch the fireworks, but this time around due to the floods, there were hardly no celebrations, and we only saw some people racing around in their motorbikes waving flags and small fireworks.

On 17th August I flied to Lahore to spend a day with another Finnish friend of mine, and we were still fasting together, and had a lovely dinner with friends for iftar…during Ramadan people generally spend more time with their families, and have more time for themselves, too, as people get off work earlier. The next day I flew to New Delhi, and my fasting that day turned out to be over 17hours, as my flight was delayed, and got stuck into passport control for 2hours due to my Pakistani visa, although visa on arrival should have been easiest thing in the world (only valid for Finland, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and Luxembourg, which are all small, neutral and rich countries)…and when I finally got out, my luggage had been cleared out, and tried everything to get hold of flight crew but in vain, and was speaking German with a lovely German couple who were stuck at airport, but finally got to my host family, and enjoyed lovely Indian dinner, and spent the next day looking for my luggage before heading to AIESEC conference in Hyderabad. I broke my fasting after 7 days, as India happens to be the promised country for vegetarians and couldn’t resist the yummy veggie food after the meat-dominated food in Pakistan.



Representing Pakistan in India

For 2 weeks I was interacting with people from over 100 countries and talking about world issues among the 600 delegates of the AIESEC International Congress in Hyderabad. Being a Finn, representing Pakistan, was very interesting for me, as many people (especially girls) came up to me to ask about life in Pakistan, and people were surprised of the incredible job opportunities in big MNCs, varied nature that Pakistan offers, the awesomely friendly, hospitable people…and was proudly wearing my Experience Pakistan Tshirt, spreading awareness about Pakistan and floods, discussing the solutions for the India-Pakistani conflict, dancing bangra with the locals, wearing shawar kamiz for the official dinner…India was almost like Pakistan…the landscape, architecture (except for Hindu temples), people, music, colours, clothes were similar than in Pakistan, but India was bigger, more crowded, more touristy, more Western than Pakistan…and felt right at home, although some of my European colleagues felt out of place with the chaotic infrastructure, honking rikshas, beggars, street vendors, spices etc…and after 10 days of staying in a beautiful 5 star hotel was really glad to be going to 32hour train journey from Hyderabad to New Delhi, and enjoyed the pretty landscapes and good company of my friends, and got to think about my life and happiness…after spending a day in New Delhi we travelled to Taj Mahal which was just as beautiful as in movies, and it was truly magical to see this romantic place, and my mind started to imagine the old times of Mughal emperors and his princesses in their fabulous clothes, walking around the pretty temple and the beautiful gardens…such a dreamy place built as a symbol for eternal love. The next day visited gorgeous Swaminarayan Akshardham temple, admired the amazing Hindu architecture, and watched the world go by whilst enjoying tasty samosas…and taking a riksha to Gandhi memorial, and watching little kids play, and looking at the cloud formations at the time of sun set and talking with my friends about the future we envision…

New beginning

The past month has been very eventful...

I have been

hospitalised and off sick many times
without electricity for a weekend
without water for few days
without internet for days

On top of that
intelligence authorities have bothered us
our office burnt down two days ago

But finally I feel that my body has adjusted, my mind is calm, have no stress, and was reading a book in a beautiful park today...

I think that our office burning down was a cherry on top after many challenging moments, and now I can only laugh at the challenges, and look ahead for a brighter future! As the saying goes, 'what doesnt kill you, only makes you stronger'...I am glad to have all these experiences, they only make your life richer, and I will have plenty of stories to tell to others, as one of the goals in my life is to inspire others with my experiences, and get other people to take risks and really enjoy their life! Besides, such challenges teaches you to appreciate little things in life, and basic amenities...but it is amazing with how little you can survive, and people just buy unnecessary luxuries and stuff to keep them happy!

Life would be boring without little challenges, and I have only become stronger throughout the years, and I believe I can do anything in my life...I can fly an airplane, if I want to, it is all about your attitude, and what you believe you can do!

Life is too short not to enjoy it, and now after my sicknesses, which were caused by very severe adjustation to the food and weather, I will have to do everything to keep myself healthy and enjoy being in Pakistan to the fullest!

I do love my work, the people, the surroundings here, and there is so much to see, to experience...have started acting, dancing, and now still want to start karaoke, climbing...the sky is the limit!

Funny thing is that this month has taught me also how to be by myself and rest,as have always been constantly surrounded by people, and never took any time to be with myself and relax...and now I have spent a lot of time by myself, as have been so much time sick at home, and now I actually enjoy chilling out by myself without any planned activities,as even my holidays have always been jampacked with sightseeing, meeting friends etc...

Now I am just looking forward to the new experiences ahead!! I think everyone should venture out to Pakistan once in their lives, test their limits, and come out stronger, and have beautiful, life-enriching experiences!;)

About being healthy

Written 21st July.

Although I do love being in Pakistan, it has been really tough for me in terms of health. I have been hospitalised twice, and been off sick 4 days or so in past 3 weeks, and almost every day I suffer from stomach cramps, headache, fever etc, but still manage to go to work. I have never been this sick in my entire life, and never been hospitalised before, and the doctors didnt know what is wrong with me.

Being ill really makes you question about your life, as there are days when you don’t want to get out of bed, and days when you feel so weak that you can barely stand…and sometimes it’s a chore even to lift my computer, and I used to be able to carry 100 kgs of stuff from south to north of Poland just few years ago! I love being active, and at the moment cannot fully complete my work, take part in hobbies, or meet friends or stay in touch with family, which really frustrates me…but then I start thinking about why I’m here, as there has been a couple of times that I felt like going back home to Finland, but I have always been survivor and never give up! I came here to make a difference, in AIESEC terms to make a positive impact in society by making AIESEC in Pakistan grow so that more people could enjoy life-changing experiences, and the vision that I have for this year is almost the only thing that keeps me going.


Previously health was something I took for granted, and was never on top of my list, I was always focusing more on career success, friends and family, and many people were amased how I could go on working for 10 hours without any food, and I would take pride in surviving just with chocolate, energy drinks for few days. Despite being vegetarian with poor eating habits my blood levels etc have never suffered, and I could juggle work, university, friends, family and hobbies with poor food, little sleep, no exercise and no relaxation…but here in Pakistan my body cannot take my lifestyle anymore, and need to change everything to get better, health has suddenly become my top priority.