For the third year in a row, Oslo Red Cross Net-working Team arranged a sailing trip which this year went along Norway’s Helgeland coastline. The participants consisted of both inmates, released prisoners, employees and voluntary workers. The boats used were two traditional sailboats each with 5 sets of oars. "Watch out, we’re sinking!" and "Set the throat (sail)!" were expressions which caused considerable laughter at the start, but after just a few days the orders were carried out systematically and obediently.
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Text and photo: Knut-Erik Rønningen, published 25.07.08. (All photos are taken from film recordings made during the trip).

-It has been a fantastic experience during the whole expedition along the Norwegian Coast to places where people had never imagined existed, was the summing up comment by tour leader Wiggo S. Larsen, otherwise Principal of Fosen Folk High School. –It is fun to take with you people that discover the fantastic coastal nature for the first time and who see what opportunities are actually available there. And what an unbelievably enjoyable and inspiring gang to travel with!   

Equal conditions
-We want to pull people out of a situation, give people new discoveries and experiences, let them experience things they otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do, comments Stian Estenstad, Leader for Oslo Red Cross Network activities (ORKN) and promoter of the sailing trip. –We are not here to tell people what they must do with their lives, we are here to help people start to find out what they want to accomplish with their lives. Therefore, we try to arrange things so that people have something to do during their free-time. But this is only a small part of our activities, he emphasized.

ORKN has more than 60 volunteers who use a little bit of their leisure-time to help people that have fallen outside of society back into it again. –We begin during the last part of the sentence period when there are just a few months left. After interviewing both parties, to start to get to know each other, we link them up to each other. The goal is to find a good connection, people with common interests, explains Eva Lorange the other of two employees at ORKN.

-The scheme allows people to participate in activities which would otherwise be difficult to get involved in alone, and through volunteers they get to meet new people. We strive to ensure that the relationship between a volunteer and a participant is as close to that of a friend as possible. This is not a support person scheme, but instead a friend that visits and arranges activities with you during your leisure time. There must be a foundation of mutual respect and equality in the relationship, concludes Eva Lorange.

Dreaded the trip
This sailing trip started in Brønnysund and finished a week later near Utøy just outside Trondheim. During this period, people got  to know each other in a completely different way than would otherwise have been impossible. –It’s not the same as sitting in your cell and chatting to each other, commented Tom who participated as volunteer. –The youngsters have moved out and suddenly I have a lot of time to spare, he explained. On impulse I went to an information meeting and ended up signing up for voluntary work with networking. And it’s not all about giving, you get a lot back too, he added, while glancing at Gerhard who has only two months left until release.
-Even though I have looked forward to the trip, I have dreaded its arrival a bit too, as there are a lot of new people to get along with. But it was not as bad as I had imagined. The whole trip was fantastic! Just to get out of your cell and out into the open sea has been a unique experience. If you behave well in prison you can get certainly reap your reward! We really get to know each other better on such a trip, it is easier to talk together, commented Gerhard who has just managed to persuade Tom to buy himself a bike. They plan to cycle together when Gerhard gets out, so in this case it is actually the participant that has persuaded the volunteer to get himself a new hobby.

ORKN Leader Stian Estenstad and Tour Leader Wiggo S. Larsen
are just as content even when their luck at fishing was not at its
best, as here.

Gerhard with a good-sized cod. There were so many fish that the
problem was to stop before we had more fish than we managed
to eat.

Gerhard and Tom think it’s easier to get to know each other on a
trip than in a cell.

Most nights were spent in tents, except the last night which was
spent at Kjeungent Lighhouse just outside Utøya.

Marius, Captain of ”Skårungen”, demonstrates how to go to the
toilet at sea. The girls in particular found this to be a problem…

Prison Officer Eileen, voluntary worker Gitte and ORKN employee
Eva Lorange enjoying sundown.

LINKS:
Fosen Folk High School   Red Cross Network Activity(N)