Mona Eid

Mona Eid sitting by the pool.
Englisch

I have roots in Helsinki.

Mona Eid

Mona Eid is Senior Project Manager at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), a freelance writer with a teaching background, and a mother of one. She has also been active in the Brown Girls (“Ruskeat Tytöt”) association for many years.

Getting involved with Brown Girls was a turning point for Eid. “I felt it was really important that a visible new minority had a voice. It also encouraged me to claim my own space.”

The book “Third Culture Kids” (2022, Otava) compiled by Eid and her friend Koko Hubara tells about Finns living at the crossroads between cultures. Some interviewees in the book highlighted how the city can be a more important anchor for identity than nationality. “Helsinki is such a big place that you can find your own crowd here.”

Mona was born and has lived most of her life in Helsinki. The city has given her a home, a job and living space. Many important stages in her life are related to Helsinki. “The locals don’t talk about roots that much, but I have quite clear roots in Helsinki.”

Helsinki to Eid means above all a smooth everyday life. “Everything is easy to take care of here and runs smoothly, it’s easy to get around, you can find a job and different communities.”

The most important thing in Helsinki, however, is that her loved ones are close by. Eid’s parents and most of her friends live in Helsinki. “I visit my parents in Katajanokka every week or twice a week.”

Her earliest memories of Helsinki are connected with nature. “We lived in Malmi and used to cycle a lot with my mother and brother. My mother tells me that I used to always stop a lot and pick flowers and rocks. I still remember well the fields in Malmi and the scent in summertime.”

It is still important to Eid that the nature and sea are close by. Living in the city centre, she missed being surrounded by water, so she picked her current place of residence because of its proximity to nature. “In Laajasalo, the sea and forest are right next to you.”