The International Education and Partnerships (IEP) Directorate at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) is hosting an exchange student, Ninni Toivonen as part of the Erasmus+ Scholarship to spend three months at DUT.

The exchange programme provides international students with the opportunity to experience lectures from a different perspective. It also provides students with the opportunity of experiencing the culture of KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.

Toivonen, a 29-year-old second year Nursing student from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland, is currently on a three-month exchange period at DUT’s Midlands campus.

“I started my university studies in the autumn of 2020, after working in the ambulance field for two years as a practical nurse,” she said.

She explained that the Erasmus+ Scholarship process started in January 2021, when she had first applied to the Metropolia’s internal application process in which she had to write a motivation letter about why she should be selected as an exchange student to South Africa.

“There were only two spots of placements in South Africa, and it was one of the most wanted exchange locations. After I was selected, the long process of waiting took place. Nothing really happened until September 2021, when Metropolia and DUT agreed on dates of our arrival. It was a lot of paperwork, school recordings, copies of passport, planning, waiting, more planning and waiting. I was supposed to arrive with another Finnish student in January 2022, but then in November 2021, the COVID-19 variant omicron happened, and our exchange was postponed,” explained Toivonen.

She confirmed that in middle of January 2022, the situation looked a bit better as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had lifted the travel restriction to South Africa. She added that everything was still in order, and it was decided that she would be coming in March 2022.

“Everything was still in order between Metropolia and DUT, and I started my visa process at the end of January 2022. The visa process was longer than expected, and I missed my first intended flight date as my passport with my visa attached to it, was still coming from Sweden. I was able to leave Finland two days later than intended, but at least I made it! All in all, the shift between the two schools went smoothly, and DUT took all the requests/changes /details into account in order to make this exchange possible. I couldn’t have hoped for a better exchange school for myself,” she expressed elatedly.

In terms of her overseas classes in comparison to DUT classes, she indicated that from what she could tell, the pharmacology class was quite similar to what she did back in Finland.

“The content of the lecture was quite the same as my school. We also do the 5 R’s (or the Golden Rules of administering medication). We also have a skills lab in which we practice dispensing medication, doing calculations (though in the hospital settings, we do have a computer doing the difficult calculations instead). We practice preparing IV medications by mixing salines, setting the drop in certain time. We practice cannulations and injections on each other. The nursing students do the pharmacotherapy course during their first year, and it also includes the pharmacology part,” she said.

In terms of the language, Toivonen said the language is not a barrier for her, as she is studying in English in Finland and would like to work abroad in the future. She has made mention that she has lived in the Netherlands and in the United States of America so those experiences have helped her with the English language.

“The medical vocabulary is sometimes a bit challenging to remember but luckily the Finnish language has loaned some English words into our own language so we use some international terms. I have set a goal for myself to learn some basic Zulu while I’m here so that I can at least greet my patients and wish them well,” she expressed.

For Toivonen, the COVID-19 pandemic did affect her mentally. She was worried about her family getting COVID-19 and dealt with stress by going to the gym.

“I know I am a very privileged person as my only problem really was not being able to go to gym. This pandemic taught me perspective and really appreciating the little things, nothing should be taken for granted,” she stressed.

In terms of the culture, food and climate, she is super excited about getting the opportunity to experience a totally new culture. She is most excited about the climate because Finland is in the North, and they only get two to four months of warm weather, if they are lucky.

“I can’t get over how kind and friendly everyone has been to me so far. I can’t wait to explore more about the South African culture! I have heard South Africans love meat, so I can’t wait to attend braais and taste some delicious meat,” she chuckled.

For her, the main aim is to achieve as a student at DUT, and to get to know other nursing students and share their own experiences as nursing students.

“I also want to share my experience as an exchange student here in South Africa so that maybe others will be inspired to take part in the exchange studies.” said Toivonen.

She confessed that she would definitely like to come back to South Africa again and take part in the theory lessons instead of doing placements.

Her exchange adventure can be followed on Instagram @ninni.toivonen

Pictured: Ninni Toivonen

Waheeda Peters