Maryna Hladchenko from Ukraine works together with Hassan Alassaf from Iran delivering food to nursery schools and nursing homes.
Olga Vashchenko came to Malå as a refugee from Kharkiv in Ukraine about a year ago. Now she lives in Malå together with her children Jaroslav, 11 years old and Polina, 4 years old.
– My husband is still in Ukraine as a soldier in the war against Russia, says Olga.
Her introduction to the labour market in Malå started with two months of work placement with language training at ICA Supermarket. In April she started a work placement in the shop and now she has a vocational introductory job employment.
Refugees from different countries has made Malås labour stronger.
– During the work placement I saw that she was really competent and now Olga manages all types of jobs except for managing the till but she will start doing that in the autumn, says Robert Persson, shopkeeper at ICA Supermarket.
Oksana Proskurenko looks forward to working with bush clearing.
Oksana Sydkorenko, who is also from Kharkiv, have made the same employment journey as Olga at Coop in Malå. She lives here with her 14-year-old son Max while her husband is still in Ukraine working as a tank repairman for the army.
Adam Lundström, Coop trader in Malå, saw great capacity and potential in her as well.
Oksana Sydozenko has done most of the work tasks in the Coop store. Now she only needs to learn the till.
– Oksana is a really good worker and fits in well with the team. She is good at baking and has a lot to contribute there and soon she will start working the till as well, he says.
Four Ukrainians will later this summer be doing bush clearing at Vildmarkscamp in Malå.
”If the refugees have got a foot into the labour market new opportunities will open up to them”, says Anna-Karin Horney.
– First they will do a work placement at the place of employment and learn how to handle the brush cutter in the forest and if that works well there will be opportunities to work in the forest, says Dan Berglund, secretary of integration at Malå municipality.
Eija Kjäll, work placement coordinator at Malå municipality also says that many recently arrived immigrants from different countries have got jobs within the municipality’s activities such as carers, catering assistants and cleaners.
Olena Hayduchik is one of four refugees from Ukraine who now starts a training programme for bush clearing.
The municipality has five Ukrainian refugees employed in different activities and one works with the charity shop Galejan as a basis. Two are at Hotel Tjamstan.
– Except for the Galejan shop there are also people working with grass clearing and delivering food to nursery schools and nursing homes, says Stefan Lundgren, activity leader at the leisure and service department at Malå municipality.
Eija Kjäll, work placement coordinator at Malå municipality.
Anna-Karin Horney, head of the development and labour market unit at Malå municipality, highlights that the municipality has had a very good collaboration with the Swedish Public Employment Service throughout this process.
– If the refugees have got a foot into the labour market new opportunities will open up to them, she concludes.
Stefan Lundgren, activity leader at the leisure and service department at Malå municipality.