A lot of people do not know much about the early Africans that set their foot on the soil of Finland.
As far back as the 1800s, Africans were already here.
Believe it or not, it is also on record that during the winter war, there was a black man who served in the Finnish Civil Defense force in the town of Nykarleby in Western Finland.
These Africans due to one reason or the other found themselves in Nordic Finland and tried to make it their home despite the challenges of cultural and environmental differences.
African Trail Blazers in Finland will be featuring the profile of these Africans who passed through Finland and left their footsteps. Telling their story, what they did, and what was done to them will help us understand ourselves better. Also a knowledge about their contributions towards the development of New Finland, will generate positive attitude, it will also serve as a source of encouragement to the new generation Africans in Finland.
THE AMBOMA-LAND CONNECTION
By 1875, the first Finnish missionaries left for Amboma-land in present Namibia. Story had it that one of them brought home to Finland a girl named Eva Maria Nagurash as early as 1875. Eva Maria was not able to adapt to Finnish environment, and was therefore taken back to Africa.
During the late 1880s, Karl Weikolin, another Finnish missionary came back from his missionary work in Amboma-land with 13 years old Rosa Emilia Clay.
THE STORY OF ROSA EMILIA CLAY
Rosa Emilia Clay became the first dark skinned person to become a citizen of Finland.
In a book about her written by Arvo Lindewalin, he wrote thus; 'Rosa saw her new country for the first time from the steam boat that brought her from London on Saturday 2nd of June 1888'.
He wrote about Rosa's personal account thus "Oh when I set my eyes on Turku harbor, I just for no known reason liked the environment, and when I saw the mainland, I immediately fell in love with this my far away new homeland to be, even though I knew that being an African, I might suffer much derision and scorn.
Rosa Clay did go through derision and scorn, at most time during her early years in Finland. Her foster parents turned her into an exhibition object, she became an exotic specimen to be taken to every possible spiritual event around Finland where she was among other things asked to sing the hymns in Hottentot language, even though she had no idea what that meant. She was also taken around the churches to induce the congregation to throw more money into the church collection. Rosa's presence in Finland raised intense curiosity among the Finns at that time, they also adopted the already established European attitude of superiority towards her.
Rosa describes her experience thus,: "Everywhere there were a lot of curious audience., Everyone wanted to see the only Negro in Finland. Everyone wanted to hear that Negro pray and sing those strange African languages. Each occasion provided a lot of offerings, that is superb. But I was not for a single time given not even five penny to buy sweets. "Many times during the first few weeks of living in Finland I used to cry and I was wishing that I would be still in Ovambo-land tribe."
For a more details about Rosa Emilia Clay, follow this link
