Speech to Norwegian Ministry of Immigration
My name’s Geoff Line. I’m a Canadian-American who has had the privilege to teach with Sørlandet’s A+ World Academy during its first two school years, and this summer am proud to be Voyage Crew Coordinator during Sørlandet’s first ever integration program.
The aim of the project is simple: to better acquaint those new to Norway with Norwegian language and culture, and to foster meaningful relationships with those more familiar with the country they now call home. This is no small feat.
This summer, Norwegian, Syrian and Eritrean youth joined the ship in its home port of Kristiansand to sail together during the tall ships races. Their voyage has taken them to Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and back. In this time they have learned to work together—on a ship there’s no other option—and to coexist in a culturally sensitive environment, the banjer, a shared common space below deck where up to seventy trainees may eat and sleep, in traditional nautical fashion, in hammocks. Standing night watch, steering by helm, loosing sail in fair weather, stowing sail in stronger winds, bracing about to out maneuver competitors, or even peeling potatoes and scrubbing deck, the young participants of the integration program strengthened work ethic and toiled long hours to sail Sørlandet to her next port of call in good time. Some even demonstrated leadership.
Having been aboard the ship for two years sailing right around the globe, I have had the privilege of working with a variety of youth from diverse backgrounds, each of whom has made an impression on me. But perhaps no group has been more fulfilling to work with than this one. I am happy to report that the integration program is working.
When I watch trainees walk off of the gangway in port to explore a new city, I see Norwegians, Syrians and Eritreans, together, heading to a restaurant, a sports activity, a museum. When I turn my head to see who is stowing sails with the crew and I thirty metres above the sea, I see young people who have known stable upbringings in Northern Europe and others who have fled across the Mediterranean from war torn homes to find it. Below and above deck, Sørlandet has brought young people together this summer and reaffirmed what they already know: that despite the continent on which we are born, we are ultimately not so different.
Like any new project, there is room for improvement. I should hope to see Sørlandet’s integration program continue in future with a more sizeable group of Norwegians and foreigners new to the country partnered together, so that young people of various nationalities and faiths may continue to learn to embrace as friends those who at first may seem like strangers.
