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My name is Ewelina Baj, I am 36 years old. I come from Lipiany - a picturesque town located south of Szczecin. By education, I am a Polish language teacher and a preschool teacher. By passion - translator, researcher and independent volunteer. Recently - a candidate for the local government in my commune.
Norwegia
I came to Norway in 2016, exactly 7 years ago. After three years of living and working in Oslo, we settled in the Municipality of Ås, which we chose as a place to live primarily because of the distance from the capital, but also the proximity of the picturesque fjord, access to beautiful beaches on Breivoll, delicious (supposedly the largest in Norway ) ice cream and the possibility of contact with nature in a less urbanized environment.
In addition, in Vinterbro there is a theme park Tusenfryd, which is a local playground for children living here permanently. My town is also an ideal starting point for trips to Oslo (it has a direct, regular bus connection to the center of the capital), but you can also get to other areas quite quickly - Drøbak, Vestby or Ski.
My work
What do I do every day? I am currently working as a career counselor. My mission is to professionally activate unemployed people or those who - for various reasons - want to retrain. This is a new challenge, because so far I have worked as a pedagogical leader in a kindergarten, i.e. in a learned profession.
My professional career in Poland, however, was not related in any way to the path of study and education that I had chosen. In my homeland, I was lucky enough to work on EU projects and in the Marshal's Office of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Besides, somewhere between the lines, I liked to get involved and help others. In 2014, I ran for the Pyrzyce County Council elections and now I smile that the then unused opportunity to sit in the local government comes back to me like a boomerang - but in Norway.
Involvement
In addition, I am a research assistant at the University of OsloMet and I help recruit children for extremely interesting research under the Project. meetings and being in a thrilling scientific environment made up of intelligent people from both partner countries - Poland and Norway.
I have been exploring the issue of children's multilingualism for years and I want to contribute to the development of research methods for this scientific issue in order to help create publications that will lay the foundations for working with multilingual children among educators and teachers. By the way, I would like to thank the parents who agreed to the study and I would like to remind you that we are still looking for children for our fascinating research!
Norwegian in my life
Knowledge of the language and luck with good people also allowed me to cooperate with organizations such as Litteraturhuset in Oslo, with whom I translated fairy tales that we read to children during the pandemic YouTube, with Melahuset, where I translated Albert Åberg, the publishing house Capelen Damm or the organization Leser søker side which. Norway has given me many opportunities. Sometimes I think that's just how it was supposed to be and that's how my life was supposed to go. If a new country is perceived as an opportunity for development, security and a better future, everything is possible.
My greatest success is my children - 13-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.
Career
In Norway, I worked first as a pre-school assistant, and then, after my profession was recognized, as a pre-school teacher. For six years I also worked as a teacher at the Polish Saturday School, where I passionately taught Polish language, tradition and culture.
In addition, I had the pleasure of working with Litteraturhuset and Melahuset in Oslo, where I translated into Polish and presented bilingual fairy tales for children. One of the special experiences is the translation into Polish of a children's book by Camilla Kuhn, entitled Ryddetid/Cleanupfor which I received an award Ordknappen at the Norwegian Literature Festival.
Why did I agree to run for local government? For as long as I can remember, I've liked being socially involved and volunteering. I am interested in politics and its impact on people's lives. In Poland, I was a candidate in the elections to the District Council. I am glad that in Norway I got the opportunity to participate in the municipal elections. At the local level, I would very much like to increase the possibility of access to sport and cultural life for children and young people, regardless of their parents' financial status, in accordance with the idea of equal opportunities. In addition, I was involved in the fight for a direct bus connection from Vinterbro to Ås, which I consider strategic for the smooth functioning of all residents of the municipality.
There are a lot of matters that lie on my heart, and which at the moment I have managed to implement in our election program for the years 2023-2027, which I will gladly present on another occasion.
However, mainly I consider my candidacy as a great distinction, responsibility and an opportunity for changes in the fight for the rights of national minorities in Norway, both on local and state grounds.
Our affairs
Poles constitute the largest national minority in Norway. Its economic immigrants experience problems that natives will never have the chance to experience, mainly due to the lack of an emigration perspective. Norway is one of the best countries to live in today and emigration destination for many people around the world. However, immigrants face problems and barriers regardless of where they live.
I, of my own will and free of charge, have often helped and advised people who were struggling with problems on the labor market, with failure to respect labor law by the employer, with mobbing and exploitation that should never have happened. There were smaller and bigger cases connected by one permanent emigration.
Recently, I became involved in the high-profile case of liquidation of the Polish form, through which it was possible to report cases of violations of labor law in Polish on the Arbeidstilsynet website. Thanks to political pressure and the help of my party colleagues, we are trying to make this option - as a tool to secure the rights of Polish-speaking employees - return to its place.
It is no secret that immigrant populations are more vulnerable to exploitation, but also to being blamed for problems that are partly the result of an illegible system, someone's ill will or ignorance of the law. I do not agree with the rhetoric of blaming the victims for any crime, as well as with the theory of "market corruption" by economic immigrants, which often, as an argument, springs up in social media and damages our image.
What he wants to do.
I would very much like for us – Poles – and generally national minorities living in Norway – to be more noticed and cared for in terms of our needs. My dream is also that we support each other and help each other. Regardless of whether we came here for a while or permanently - we pay taxes in the same basket as all other rightful inhabitants of this country. We should therefore have equal rights to access medical services, learn the language, receive a decent wage for our work and a secure labor market. The umbrella of the welfare state should spread over the heads of all the inhabitants of the State, and I have the impression that the rain of systemic difficulties often falls on our heads.
The fact is, however, that we are underrepresented, both at the municipal and state level. The lack of our compatriots in local governments results in the lack of prioritization of matters that are important to us, which in turn in many cases is reflected in the level of integration in society. Having our representatives in the local government (and government), we will be able to better look at, signal and solve problems that affect us all - out of concern for the common good of the entire country.
My decision.
I decided to stand as a candidate on the Venstre list, because I believe that it is a party that is oriented towards listening to the voice of national minorities. In the upcoming elections, other party lists are also running on Venstre Party lists, socially engaged i talented Polish women. Ensuring a place for Poles on the lists to the commune government is peculiar novelty and I treat it as a step forward to real integration with Norwegian society and inclusion in the structures that determine the appearance of Norwegian municipalities in the future, post-election years. I hope that this is a step towards significant changes and seeing us – Poles as an added value to the multicultural Norwegian society.
The fate of Poles in Norway is in our hands. We can choose our leaders and the parties that will represent us. A large proportion of immigrants do not know that they can vote in local government elections. It is enough that they are registered in the Norwegian population register in the last three years before the elections. In local elections, Norwegian citizenship is not a requirement to vote. Everyone who cares about the country and the commune they have chosen to live in should vote. If we, Poles, show that we are active and engaged residents, the more interest we will gain for matters that are close to our hearts.
