Finland 1925 Revisited

While researching the origins of outdoor education at Salem, a historical discovery transported me straight to the year 1925: Marina Ewald, a teacher at Salem, close collaborator of Kurt Hahn and one of the formative women of the school’s early history, led a four-week expedition to Finland with 20 pupils. She was the only adult and the only woman on the journey. In retrospect, this undertaking is regarded as an early prototype of what would later develop into the globally influential Outward Bound movement.

A hundred years later, this history inspired a personal project. In preparation for the annual Outward Bound expedition of our Year 9 classes, I retraced the historic route through Finland myself – as a conscious attempt to connect with the spirit of this “original expedition”. The route largely followed the path Marina Ewald and her group had taken in 1925 – travelling overland, paddling, and by boat through the Finnish lake system. In many places and situations, her vivid descriptions could be directly experienced and brought to life: choosing campsites freely, living together from and with nature, and the gradual growth of self-confidence and a sense of community.

During the subsequent Outward Bound expedition with our Year 9 classes, the experience of the Finland journey made it even clearer to me how present the spirit of that early expedition still is today. In travelling together, in enduring uncertainty, and in trusting one’s own path, Marina Ewald’s legacy continues to live on.