Norwegian Football Dream Team?

Photo Aftenposten

Check the line up in the Norwegian Dream Team. What is wrong with it? Yes you are right, it is composed of non-ethnic Norwegians. However, although this is just a dream team from immigrants perspective, it is real that immigrants are becoming an important aspect of football in Norway.

Football players with immigrant roots, like John Carew, Ruben L. Gabrielsen, Moammed Abdellause and Alexander Tetty, are a big inspiration for young immigrant boys in Norway. This month we celebrate these dream achievers who are veteran players in the Norwegian national team and many others who have not reached the first eleven national team yet. Many young men look up on them as role models and heros.

John Carew

Because of your achievements, the media can now dare to think of an all immigrant national team. We are honored to reproduce here a list compiled by Aftenposten.no Sports.  The list is not exhaustive as there are many upcoming contenders playing for various clubs around in Norway.

John Carew's deadly header

Our advise to the young men aspiring to be great football players is that they have role models out there to encourage them to live up to their dreams: dream, work hard and preserver. Today, competition may be severe but it is no longer difficult to make it up to the dream national team because of your background.

We salute especially John Carew who is the biggest role model in football for us of immigrant background in Norway. 

Together in Love and Triumph over Evil

On Monday evening 25.07.2011 a spectacle of love and beauty flowed as inhabitants of Norway gathered together in streets in the cities, town centres and villages all over the country to show togetherness, love and triumph of good over evil that afflicted the nation on the Deadly Friday 22.07.2011. Over 200,000 people gathered in the streets of the Capital City Oslo, and many other thousands did so all over major cities in the country to send a clear message that terrorism and evil cannot win over tolerance, love and good. The City of Oslo was decorated with flowers  brought by the people to mark the event. Oslo Domkirke (Dome Church) became a sea of all kinds of flowers. At around 18.00 hours the city stood still as all raised their flowers high creating a seamless beautiful human canopy of flowers. The scene was breath taking as one grasped the beauty of love, togetherness, tolerance and good.

Norway is a beautiful country, with good and loving people. Although the act of terrorism was so gruesome and for a short moment shattered the love and beauty of life, the events on Monday demonstrated that there is more beauty, love and goodness in people than evil. The scenes of thousands of people united in love are the best memorial a nation can give to the victims of the two tragedies in Oslo and Utøya Island.


The tragedies are a reminder that if one focuses on evil, one will only see evil. The outcome will be evil and never good. However, the people of Norway have chosen to focus in good, love and tolerance. The outcome will inevitably be good. It will create a better society than that envisaged by the perpetrator of these heinous acts.







Some pictures from around Norway

Street in Oslo

Outside Domkirke (Dome Church) Oslo

Stavanger, Norway

Folkets hus, Oslo

Lillehamar, Norway

Street in Oslo 

Oslo

Outside Parliament Oslo

Parliament Oslo

City Hall Oslo

City Hall Oslo

Skien, Norway

Youngstorget Oslo

Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway

Trio: Great Performance in Bislett, Oslo 9 June 2011

Three great Norwegian athletic talents with foreign background portrayed great performance in the recent Diamond League Athletics 2011 at Bislett Stadium Oslo, Norway. The three are Christina Vukicevic 100 meter hurdles, Ezinne Okaparaebo 100 meters and Jaysuma Ndure 200 meters.

Christina Vukicevic

Christina Vukicevic was born in Norway of a Serbian father and Norwegian mother. She is coached by her father Petar Vukicevic, who participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She is Silver Medalist in European Junior Championships 2005 and World Junior Championships 2006. She has represented Norway in many European and World events and in the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing.

Christina had the best performance of the trio in Bislett. She easily won the 100 meter hurdles final for women with record time of 12.97 seconds. She led the way from the start to the finishing line and was 16 hundredth of a second before her next rival the American Kristi Castlin. This was her first win in the Diamond League. Afterwards, a happy Christina did a lap of honor to the joy of the ecstatic Oslo crowd. 

Christina Vukicevic

Later speaking to NRK TV cameras and reporter she said “I does not cry at funerals, but today this is different” as joyous tears flowed. Proud of her brilliant performance she proclaimed “I won and with a good margin. I run from them from the start to the finish. I beat them quite easily. Is it proper to put it that way”, she asked.

Ezinne Okaparaebo (Center)

Ezinne Okaparaebo hails from Nigeria and has lived in Norway since the age of nine. She represented Norway in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where she competed in women 100 meters but she did not qualify for her second hit. She is a Silver Medalist on 60 meter event in the 2009 European Indoor Championships in Turin.

Ezinne finished third in the women’s 100 meter dash. She recorded a time of 11.17 seconds her best so far. She holds the Norwegian record in the race 11.23 seconds. Although her new time was an improvement to her Norwegian record, due to the help she got from the wind the new time was not recognized.

Okaparaebo’s performance was impressive beating many competitors who had previously beaten her. Ezinne was splendidly happy with her performance and confirmed that she was in good form. 

Jaysuma Ndure (Right)

Jaysuma Ndure has his roots in Gambia where he began his athletic career. He now represents Norway having changed his nationality in 2006. Ndure is a holder of Gambian and Norwegian records in both 100 and 200 meters. He is a bronze medalist from the African Championships and several top three-rankings in IAAF Golden League and IAAF World Athletics Final.

Ndure finished second in the 200 meters men’s race in Bislett behind the winner, the incredible Olympic Champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica. Ndure registered a time of 20.43 seconds. He was, however, not extremely happy with distance between him and Bolt, and blamed it on wet ground due to heavy down pours in Oslo then and fatigue as a result of jetlag from the travel from US where he had been training.  He had just arrived in Norway that morning.

Overall he confided that he was satisfied with the performance vowed to try to beat Bolt next time. He said that “I like to compete and I like to compete against Usain. I love to compete against the best because I can try to beat him. I did not manage today but I will continue to try and try. He said he will try to beat Bolt in the World Championship.

Confronted with Ndure’s comments, Bolt said that everything is possible. We have known each other over a couple of years and I know he is focused. If he does not suffer any injuries all is possible. I respect all, he concluded.

For each of the three athletes, Bislett performance was a step closer to their dreams. Here in this blog we would like to celebrate with them their achievement and dreams. Keep focused and you will accomplish your dreams. Remember that you are also an inspiration to many young men and women in Norway.

Stella mwangi Releases Album Kinanda!

At a fans and family fully packed party in Oslo on 9th May, Stella Mwangi released her new Album Kinanda. Following her impressive performance with Haba Haba, Stella's album feature hit Song Lookie Lookie and Swahili title song Hakuna Matata. Kinanda is Swahili for record player.

We Love You Stella! You Were Great!

Photo NRK

Despite the unfortunate outcome of Eurovision Song Contest semi final results, we still love you Stella. You have taken us with you in your dream and victories. Your achievement is phenomenon despite what happened in Düsseldorf. The main thing is that you believed in yourself and have seen how much you can accomplish. You have also inspired many to believe in themselves and do what they know best with devotion and commitment. You dared and grasped the opportunity. Düsseldorf debacle is but a small obstruction compared with what you have achieved. The thing now is to continue living your dream and you will conquer the world. It has been a great joy in this blog to witness your dream blossom. We will continue to travel and celebrate with you as you live your dream.

Unfortunately there are many who were waiting to vote for you on May 14 and had no opportunity to vote in the Semi. However, that’s water under the bridge now. Thank you all from us on behalf of Stella.

Continue smiling and giving joy to the World Stella. You are great and a winner.

Stella Mwangi in Semi Final Eurovision 2011 Düsseldorf

In Düsseldorf on 10 May 2011, Stella Mwangi is No. 2 out in the scene with her favourite song "Haba Haba". If she qualifies then she will perform in the final on 14 May 2011. To qualify she must get votes from other First semi final countries but not from her home country Norway. Therefore, the song must appeal to the rest of Europe and there is no doubt that it does.  Norway is among the favourites to qualify further to finals in this group including Russia, Armenia and Turkey.

The Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi has made arrangements for the semi final event to be streamed live on big screen in Nairobi. The family, friends and people of Kenya will have an opportunity to witness her perform.

In the past week, Stella and other contesters have rehearsed in the Eurovision Esprit Arena where the competition will take place. Now, it is to keep our fingers crossed and hope that Stella reaches the final.

Stella Mwangi's Haba Haba Video Released!

Foto: Lene Haug, Aktiv I Oslo.no

The official video to Stella Mwangi's winning Haba Haba song was recently released. The song won the Norwegian Melody Grand Prix in February 2011 and Stella singing Haba Haba will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Germany in May 2011. Stella will perform in the first semi final pool on 10 May and if she qualifies will be in the final on 14 May.

Stella has expressed full satisfaction with the quality and shooting of the video. She is also happy and grateful to release it to the public. The young producer, Frederic Esnault (22), is not new in the game as he has earlier collaborated and worked with Stella in previous music video productions.

If you are outside Norway, your vote for Stella on 10 and 14 May is highly appreciated.

NRK ville rekruttere flere flerkulturelle journalister

Har du  familiebakgrunn fra Afrika, Asia, Sør-Amerika eller tidligere Øst-Europa?

Er du journalist som ønsker å jobbe med nyheter, sport og samfunn?

Vil du å jobbe i Bergen, Trondheim eller Drammen? 

NRK tar fra 15. august 2011 inn fem flerkulturelle stipendiater for opplæring i journalistikk i 10 måneder, med mulighet for sommervikariat.

Er du interessert å søker?

Søknadsfrist: 20. april 2011.

Les mer ...

Our Week's Achievers: They Left their Comfort Zone!

Daljit Kaur and Jagjit Singh   in their local store.           Foto: Dang Trinh/NRK

They needed a new challenge, 9 years down the line they do not regret at all. Highly educated and with secure jobs Daljit Kaur and Jagjit Singh quit their jobs and opened a local Jokker store at Billingstad in Asker County. The business keeps on flourishing. Daljit Kaur worked in commerce and Jagjit Singh as an electrical engineer.

Their success can be attributed to their motivation to give service to their customers. "It is important to speak and salute the customers", says Jagjit. "When you know your customers you tend to serve them better by supplying the goods and products they demand and this brings them back. We also deliver the goods to customer that cannot come to the store", adds Daljit.

Apart from offering their customers daily goods and postal services, the store has also become a meeting point for the locals.

Their success has earned them the title Merchant of the year.

We salute Daljit Kaur and Jagjit Singh for daring to live their dream and succeeding and call them our week's dream achievers. They have shown that sometimes you have to exit your comfort zone in order to achieve your dream and success.

Read more ...  

Our Week Dream Achiever: Nhu Diep author of Little Ting a Children’s Book Series

To illustrate our discussion on “You are Opportunity” I would like to point to a story I read today about a woman who saw and turned her circumstances into an opportunity. Nhu Diep is a mother who wanted all the best for her child, but when she looked about for a children book that reflected the multicultural background of her child, she found nothing among the Norwegian children literature. Instead of whining and complaining, she decided to turn need and lack into opportunity. She resolved to write a book for her child and thus the Little Ting Children’s book series was born.

'The book series Little Ting is about my daughter', says Nhu Diep. 'I wrote it for her because I could not find anything in the market suitable for her multicultural background.'

The first book in the series “Lille Ting Spiser ABC” is published and selling in the market now. We congratulate Nhu Diep for her vision and call her our this week’s Dream Achiever.

Read more...

You Are Opportunity!

What is opportunity? To many people, opportunity is an advertisement or offer for a job, course, vacancy, traineeship, or apprenticeship. It is an external phenomenon – originating from without or others. Rarely do people perceive opportunity as internal – within oneself. We would like to emphasise this latter meaning here.

We start by stating that opportunity is first internal. You Are Opportunity. You create opportunity as you turn your circumstances into success. The most important circumstances are usually the ones we consider as obstacles - your crises and defeats. In reality, you create your opportunity as you turn your crises and defeats to success. Nevertheless, how often do we complain about our circumstances especially about our unfortunate past, bad luck, or other social obstacles to realize that opportunities abound and exist around us?

In truth, opportunity first takes shape in your mind. Your attitude determines your opportunities. It is an expression of how you perceive yourself as well as how you perceive your environment. It is only by first overcoming your internal limitations that success can become a reality. Dream achievers are individuals with the courage and insight to say, “Yes, I can! There is a way – and I will find it! They are those rare individual who accept life with its challenges and who work to turn those challenges into successes.

Don’t wait for opportunity make it! Put forth the effort, and practically anything you desire is yours. As Dennis Kimbro and Napoleon Hill observe, “lack of opportunity is ever the excuse of the poorly directed. Every life is full of opportunity.” They add that, “there are no open doors to the temple of success. Everyone who enters must forge his own way”. Remember, it is you who create your own opportunities - not circumstances, fate, luck, or chance. The environment is not an obstacle. It is your duty to mould it into opportunity.

Opportunity for Immigrants Resident in Troms Region

Er du innvandrer, har gode norskkunnskaper og godkjent høyere utdannelse?

Global Future Troms starter i mai og søker nå kandidater til programmet. Global Future er et karriereutviklingsprogram for innvandrere med høyere utdannelse for videre kvalifisering til relevante stillinger, lederposisjoner og styreverv i privat og offentlig sektor. Global Future skal øke tilgangen på høyt kvalifisert arbeidskraft og bidra til økt mangfold i arbeidslivet.

Hvem kan søke?

Du er i målgruppen for prosjektet hvis du er innvandrer, har gode norskkunnskaper og høyere utdanning som er godkjent i Norge. Primærmålgruppen er førstegenerasjons innvandrere. Deltakerne som søker opptak i NHO Troms Global Future-program, må være bosatt i Troms fylke.

Søknadsfrist er 21.mars

Les mer

Our Story of the Week: You Create Your World!

The following story may be old, but its message is still ahead of its time.  

It was the custom of the old man to sit outside the wall of the ancient city where he lived, watching passersby come and go. He always sat in the shade, usually surrounded by children, retelling stories which they loved to hear. Through the course of the day, many travellers would stop to chat. One hot summer day a stranger stopped for a few minutes with the old man, who was entertaining his young friends. The stranger approached the old man and asked, “I am thinking of moving to your fair city. Tell me, sir, what kind of people live here?”
 
Quickly the old man replied, “What kind of people live in the city where you’re from?”
 
“The people in my town are unkind,” said the stranger. “They cheat and steal and lie; they speak badly of each other. I am leaving that town because of the undesirable people who live there.”
 

The old man gazed sadly at the stranger and said, “I’m sorry to inform you, but you will find the same type of people in this town.” And without a word the stranger turned and walked away as the old man continued his tale to the children.
 
A short time later, another stranger came down the road towards the gate. He, too, stopped to chat.
 
He said, “My good man, I need to move to a town such as yours. Tell me, sir, what type of people live here?”
 
The old man asked the same question, “What kind of people live in the town where you’re from?”
 
The stranger replied, “The people in my town are good. They are friendly, courteous, and are always looking for an opportunity to do a good deed for someone. I truly hated to leave that town because of the warmth and kindness of its people, but my work requires that I move.”
 
The old man clasped the hand of the traveller and said, “You’ll find the same type of people here. Welcome to our fine town.” The stranger walked away happily through the gate.
 
The children sat in silence. Finally, one of them approached the old man and asked, “Why, sir, didn’t you tell those men the truth? You told one that our people were bad and the other that they were good.”
 
The old man begged them to sit while he explained.
 

“I did tell the truth, “he said. “You see, no matter where you go or what you do, you will find in other people just what you are looking for. If you search for the good, you will find it; but if you look for the bad, that is what you will undoubtedly see. Almost everyone has far more good qualities than bad. Always look for the best in others.”
 
We hope that the story has some meaning and lesson to you and that you will use the awareness you get from it to improve your dream and yourself. Remember also that the color of the eyeglasses you are wearing determines the color of the external world you are seeing. Change the color of your eyeglasses and the color of the external world will change.

Noelia Fourcade Our Week's Dream Achiever

Noelia Fourcade      Photo Bergensavisen

Noelia Fourcade (32)  has risen from a table waiter to a Human Resource Manager at Orange Group AS. Talking to Bergensavisen she attributes her success to determination and patience. In addition, she emphasises that learning the Norwegian language has enormously contributed to her success.

Noelia came to Norway from Argentina five years ago. She confesses that the road to her success was not easy. As a graduate in psychology from University of Buenos Aires she began, as many with higher learning qualifications from abroad, by working as a waiter in hotels and cafes. Despite feeling frustrated, she knew all the time what her goal was. She adds that, it is important not to lose focus of your goal. Language, language, language she underscores is the most important for success in a Norwegian working environment.

Noelia is in charge for recrutment and capacity building for over 400 persons in the personel hiring firm offshore- og helsenæringen.

She also highlights the importance for network in succeess. She tells how she used Bergen Næringsråd as a network to come in touch with other motivated and ambitious immigrants like her who had good jobs. She used their advice to advance herself. She is happy that today she is able to give back to others too.

Noelia Fourcade's story is full of inspiration. It demonstrates that nothing is impossible. All a person needs is a dream, goals, desire, motivation, determination, focus, will to succeed, and network of metors. We would like to emphasise the last one because it is important to associate with people who inspire you to achieve your goals. Associate with successful people and avoid negative and pessimistic persons and dream killers. 

See also story in Norwegian at siste.no

SKI VM – Oslo 2011: Where are Norway's immigrants?

Photo source DB

The absence of Norwegian immigrants’ competitors - especially those with roots in Africa, Asia and Latin America - in the ongoing SKI VM in Oslo tells volumes how these people have ignored this Niche sport. The presence of Kenya’s athlete Philip Boit should encourage immigrants living in Norway to take this sport seriously. Boit’s only close encounter with snow in Kenya may have been the ice on the top of Mount Kenya, about 5,000 meters above the sea level. Although he might retire without having won a medal, nevertheless, he has made a name for himself and Kenya in the world of Ski championships starting with the Winter Olympic games in Nagano in 1998. Boit’s main challenge has been training because of lack of snow in Kenya. As such, he often travels to Europe for training.  Yet immigrants in Norway, living in the midst of snow and superb training facilities, do not value this sport.

Photo source DB

What is the reason behind the lack of interest in skiing among the immigrants? Perhaps most believe strongly in the ‘myth’ that you have to be born with Skis on your feet to be good in the sport.  While this may be a compelling obstacle for the first-generation immigrants who may hamper apprehensions on skiing, it may not be so for the second-generation immigrants who have had a go on skiing in school or other social circumstances. Well, whatever the case may be, Boit has shattered this myth. He has demonstrated that you do not have to be born with skis on your feet to compete. 

Another excuse may be that skiing is an expensive sport and only those with plentiful money can afford to take part. This is, however, just an excuse because money is not an obstacle to anyone with interest, desire and drive for achievement. Again, Boit has overcome this obstacle through interest, desire and determination.

Lack of interest and the perception that skiing is an elite sport are the main drawbacks for immigrant participation. The lack of interest was demonstrated when the Oslo Ski VM organisers’ carried out a campaign to recruit at least 10% of the volunteers during the championship from immigrants, only a decimal 3% response was realised from immigrants of non-Western countries background.  The bulk of immigrant volunteers came from Western countries such as Germany, Sweden and USA.

Photo source DB

Without exploring into other excuses that may exist, skiing is a niche sport that any immigrant living in Norway with interest, desire and determination can excel in and enter his or her name in the annals of skiing history. Immigrants have already made a name in other sports such as football, field athletics, boxing and weight lifting. Skiing awaits to be conquered.

This blog would like to promote interest in skiing sports among immigrants living in Norway. We welcome your comments and suggestions on how to realise this noble objective.

Alternatively, you may just take the challenge as an individual and pursue skiing sport as your dream.