Mehrdad Ganji is initiator of the project, and the poster has been translated into Urdu (as above), Somali, Turkish, Arabic and English. (Photo: Line Forsmo/NRK)

During the Norwegian winter, temperatures may reach down to minus 20 degrees, and Norwegians have much experience on how to keep warm when outside. For immigrants however, not having experienced winter, choosing clothes may be a challenge. A new project in Oslo shall therefore teach them to dress properly.

– You see, thin wool as the innermost layer, and a hood that covers the forehead and cheeks, says Mehrdad Ganji to NRK and points to the information poster with the heading “Dress your child correctly when it´s cold”.

When he came to Norway from southern Iran, he had never heard of wool underwear. He was often freezing until someone taught him how to keep warm during the Norwegian winter.

– I had never worn long johns before, or heavy winter boots with wool lining, he says.

Today, he is head of the unit for preventive services in Gamle Oslo district and has close contact with both immigrants and Norwegians.

– I saw the poster in Norwegian in a newspaper and took it as a personal goal to make sure it was translated into various languages. It turned out to be difficult, because not every language has the words fleece or sled.

The information poster is translated into Urdu, Somali, Turkish, Arabic and English. Ganji expect it to be translated into Polish, Russian, Chinese and French as well.

Local kindergartens suggested which languages were important. The largest groups of children who do not have a Norwegian ethnic background come from families where they speak Urdu, Arabic, Somali, Turkish and English.

Translating, however, was challenging. The Somali translator did not know what a sled was in Somali, so the text on that poster is a little longer because she had to explain the word.

The posters are distributed to the local health care services and kindergartens.

Here you can read the poster in Urdu, Somali, Arabic, Turkish and English

Text by: Anette Broteng Christiansen, ThorNews

Categories: Nature, Quirky, Sports & Health