This is a summary of the into and questions from the QnA/info event on 27.11., from both sessions combined. If you want more info on the topics, see the slides we showed, or the corresponding pages elsewhere on the Kajo website.
Transport
Transport to Hope Hospitality and to and from the campsite is included in the price of Kajo for International Participants. The schedule is the following:
11.7. (Mon) From Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Home Hospitality location, if participating in HH
15.7. (Fri) From HH or an entry point to the campsite
23.7. (Sat) From the campsite to an entry point
There are four entry points: Helsinki-Vantaa airport, Helsinki harbor (Länsisatama), Turku Harbor and Hämeenlinna.
Q: What time should we be in Finland for the transport to HH or the campsite? What time should we get flights out from Finland after?
A: We haven’t discussed any specific times, but if you’re at the airport between 8 in the morning and 6 in the evening, you’ll be fine. You might have to wait a bit for your transport, though. If there are no flights or this is impossible for some other reason, let us know, and we’ll figure something out. For HH, if you come in late, we’ll put you in a place that’s closer so you’ll still have time to get there.
The travel time to the Evo campsite is under 2 hours from Helsinki-Vantaa and about 2.5 from Turku. On the first day the opening ceremony begins at 9 pm, so if you want to make it in time for that, you’ll need to be early enough to make it to the campsite before that.
It will take a whole day to get all the people off the campsite, so there isn’t a specific time frame during which you’ll need or be able to leave. We’ll arrange the transport so that you’ll make it to your flights.
Q: What if I don’t yet know when or how I’ll get there when I’m registering? Is there some way to add this information later?
A: It’s possible to change info on the registration form until the end of the registration. We understand that at that point there might still be people who don’t have their travel booked, so we will try to make it possible to tell us this information also later. Information on how this will be done and by when we need to know the info will be available later.
If you don’t have this info yet, write that in the open questions so we’ll know.
Q: Are the dates for the transport set? What if we can’t make it there yet on the 15th?
A: The dates are set. If it is absolutely impossible for you to get to Finland on the 15th, send us an email and we’ll see if there’s something we can do.
Q: Is there transport to the campsite earlier?
A: Not organized by the international team. If you want to go to the campsite for the construction camp, you will need to get your own transport. (You will also need to have a contact person on site who knows you’re coming, and you will be expected to participate in the construction.)
Q: If I come with a car all the way from home, do I have to fill in the details on how and when I get to Finland?
A: Whatever method of transport you have, please let us know in the open questions. Knowing you have your own transport and we don’t need to arrange anything for you will mean less worry and wondering over missing information for us.
Q: If I come to the camp from Home Hospitality, which option should I pick in the question about how I will arrive at the camp?
A: Since the QnA, an option “from Home Hospitality” has been added to the registration form.
Registration
Registration for Kajo will be open from 1.12.2021-2.2.2022. There will be four steps to registering:
The group leader registers the group. If you are traveling alone, you are in the system considered to be a group of one and need to fill this out too.
The group leader registers themself. This form opens directly after saving the group registration.
The group leader distributes the registration link and the group registration code to the members of the group. These will be visible on the summary page that opens after the group leader has completed registration. The group registration code identifies each person using it to register as a member of the group.
Each group member or their parents registers themselves using the group code.
Q: Is it possible to change the information in the registration afterward? For how long?
A: Yes. The group leader can change their and the group’s information using the group leader registration code, and each group member can change their own information using their personal registration code that they will get after registering the same way the group leader gets the group leader and group registration codes. It is important that you save the codes somewhere, in case you need them afterward.
Changes to the information can be made until the end of registration on 2.2.2022. Dietary and medical information can be changed until 31.3.2022. If there are any changes after this, send us an email.
Q: What if I lose the code? Is there some way to recover it? Will it be sent to my email after registering?
A: The code will not be sent to email, so it is very important that you copy your code and for the group leader both the group code and group leader code somewhere safe before doing anything else after registration. Group leaders, using the group leader code, can see a summary of everyone who has registered as a member of the group, including their codes. If you lose the group leader code, send a message to the project office at kajo2022@partio.fi.
Q: What’s the lower age limit? Can someone who isn’t yet 12 but will turn 12 later in 2022 participate?
A: Yes. The instructions for Finnish troops are if a youth is part of a tracker patrol during 2022, they are welcome to participate. The change from adventurers (the one-step younger age group) to trackers in Finland is flexible. It happens either when starting sixth grade (aka the year they turn 12) or when starting seventh grade (aka the year they turn 13). Which year this happens depends on the troop and the individual adventurers, which means it’s up to the troop to decide if those turning 12 during 2022 in their troop are old enough to participate.
Q: What’s a twin group?
A: It’s a Finnish troop that you already have friends in and that your group wants to share a camp unit with on Kajo. Make sure you know the name of their troop, not the name of the camp unit or some other info. The info we have on the camp units when doing the pairing is which troops will form a camp unit together. This is why we need the name of the troop, otherwise, we won’t know which of the hundreds of camp units it is you mean. If you’re not sure of the name of your friends’ troop, ask them.
Q: The limit of International Participants per camp unit is 30. If we are more than that, do we register as multiple groups?
A: No. Register as one group. How you divide into smaller groups and into the camp units will be done later, although you can already make the division internally.
Q: If we’re a group of over 30, do we get to decide amongst ourselves how to divide into the different camp units? Should we have everyone in one age group in one camp unit? Are ISTs in the camp units as well?
A: Yes, you can decide how to divide your group into the camp units. We would suggest dividing all age groups relatively evenly into the different camp units, so you won’t for example have one group of 27 trackers with three supporting leaders and another of only ISTs. Make a combination of different age groups that works best for your group. ISTs will be in the camp units just like everyone else.
Q: Cancellation policy? How does is work? What if covid hits again and we can’t travel?
A: The cancellation policy will be available on the website with the instructions for registration. If the event has to be canceled or ended early or if the event is postponed to a time that does not suit a participant, the participation fee will be refunded to the participant, less the share that has already been tied to the event organizers and that cannot be recovered from the payment recipient or ultimately the insurance company. The camp organization is not obligated to refund any participation fees which have already been paid in the event that entry into the country or participation in the camp is not possible. It is recommended that you get the insurance that covers the cost in this case.
Camp assignments
Everyone 15-years and older will have a camp assignment.
For rovers and adults, some of these will be in the camp unit as supporting leaders for trackers (or luotsi, 1 per every 12 trackers) or, if you have a lot of explorers, as a member of the camp unit leader trio as a person responsible for the explorers. You will need to confirm these assignments together with the Finnish troops that share your camp unit later in the spring, once you know who those Finns are.
If you will not have a camp assignment in the camp unit, you will have one somewhere else. You will get your camp assignment through a very easy-to-use “camp assignment engine”. After registration, you will get a personal link (do not share it with your friends) to the engine. You ask a few questions about what kinds of things you would like to do, and after registration ends, you will be given an assignment based on these answers.
Explorers will have their own form that they need to fill. This will not be personal, and will also ask about what kind of patrol they would like to be in during Kajo. Explorer patrols are gathered from all over the subcamp, and explorers will participate in both program and the camp assignments in these patrols.
Q: So camp assignments are for everyone who is 15 and up at the time of camp?
A: They are for everyone who is an explorer, rover, or adult. There is a blurry line of whether those who turn 15 during 2022 will be trackers or explorers. It is up to the group to decide as part of which age group these youth will participate.
Q: When will I know my camp assignment?
A: As soon as possible after registration ends. We’re not promising any definite dates, but hopefully at the end of February.
Vilibility on leirisuora (main street)
There is a possibility to have your country visible on leirisuora, or the mains street of camp. We are currently collecting your wishes on what you would like to do, and then make a plan of how to best have our International Participants in the middle of the camp for everyone to see. What exactly this will look like will depend on the collective wishes of all of you.
Q: What kind of thing are you looking for?
A: Anything you want. At this point we really just want to know what you would like to do, be it some sort of spot for activity, a bit of wall space where you can put up some info on your country, or anything it between. Your imagination is the limit here. After we know what each of the groups and countries would like to do, we will make a coherent plan of how to make the best whole out of it. We won’t promise you’ll be able to do the exact thing you wish for, but hopefully, we all want the same thing, which is that all the Finnish people will have a chance to get to know you and your countries.
Q: So it can be something that doesn’t require anyone to be present all the time and telling about the country?
A: Yes, definitely.
Q: Does the thing have to be for the whole camp?
A: No. You can have something up for only a part of the camp, or for example, have some activity that you’re doing for a couple of hours one evening.
Q: Is there some way to connect with other people from my country who are coming, so we could plan this together?
A: We can’t directly give you their contact information, but we can ask everyone if it’s okay to share their contact info from others in the country. You can also send us an email that you would like to connect with the others, and we can send your contact info to them. At this point, though, we’re really just looking for what kind of thing you’d like to do, and the practical planning can happen after we can get a coherent plan for the whole.
Other
Q: Is there wifi and the possibility for charging phones on Kajo!
A: Instead of a (at least in Finland) traditional camp book, Kajo will have a camp app with info about the camp you will need during the camp. Since this automatically creates the expectation that everyone will have access to the internet and a phone that’s always charged, there will be some way of doing this. How exactly this happens is still unclear, but conversations about how to do it are actively happening in the organization right now.
Q: Are there any rules on how to use the camp logo and song?
A: Yes. There are rules on the Finnish pages on which are the official color variants and how you should use the logo. The rules haven’t been translated, but one of our QnA participants ran the text on the page through machine translation and sent us a pdf of the translated version. If you want to see it, send us a message at international.kajo2022@partio.fi.
Q: Will there be a visiting day?
A: Yes, on Tuesday 19.7.
Q: What if two people want to go to the same Home Hospitality home?
A: In the Home Hospitality section of the registration there is an additional information box. Write your friend’s name there and that you would like to stay together during HH.
Q: Will we be staying in Home Hospitality with the same people we will share a camp unit with?
A: This would be ideal, and you can ask for it, but since this depends on who of the Finnish scouts sign up to be HH hosts, and on the travel schedules, we cannot promise that it will be possible.
Q: Is there some way to get kits for example cooking in Finland? It will be difficult to bring everything.
A: You won’t need cooking equipment with you. Cooking and meals happen in subcamp kitchens. All group equipment is camp unit specific, and basically, all the necessary, big equipment that the camp unit needs, the Finnish troops would be bringing to camp whether you were in the camp unit or not. This means that you probably won’t need to worry about traveling with big group equipment. Who brings what is another conversation you should have with the Finnish troops after you find out who you will share a camp unit with. You will need to bring your own tents, though.
There has also been talk of the possibility of getting bigger equipment for Kajo that International groups could then rent directly from here, and a list of places wherein Finland you can get certain pieces of equipment it won’t make sense to bring with you. These are, however, still in the idea stage, and we won’t promise they will happen.
The group equipment list for camp units should be ready and available soon after registration.
Q: So we only need to bring tents and personal equipment and nothing else?
A: We can’t promise this, since it mostly depends on the Finnish troops you will be sharing a camp unit with. You need to talk about this with them. However, it is likely they will bring anything big. The Finnish troops have been told they’re not expected to provide international groups with any equipment, but as already said, a lot of the camp unit’s communal equipment (such as tools tables, materials for a shelter, a tent for drying wet clothes, and sleeping bags) will serve International Participants just as well as Finnish ones and they will most likely have them with them regardless.
