by Ana S Silva

My ‘love’ for flying is recent. I went from just sitting in the airport waiting area bored, to actually enjoying watching other airplanes take off and land; from being scared and anxious about all those ‘pre-flight rituals’, to being excited; these days I do not hesitate asking for a widow seat right from the gate.

During my last flight to Helsinki, a few feet off the ground, I suddenly remembered that I had a friend who is training to become a pilot and that it would be very interesting to interview him for Dunia Magazine.

His name is João Melo, he is a 23 year-old Portuguese young man and is now finishing his studies at Gestair Flying Academy, in Lisbon. João graciously agreed to speak with us.

Tell me João, was there any particular event in your life which made you choose aviation?

According to my family, when I was a child, as soon as started talking, I couldn’t take my eyes off the skies, mesmerized by airplanes – talking and shouting at them. I remember my first travel by air, I was 9 years old and I had a chance to visit the cockpit; I was amazed, I asked myself how anyone could possibly manage so many buttons; I couldn’t imagine I would one day become a pilot.

Some years later, during a school trip to London, I became fascinated with everything happening in that flight — that was maybe the first time I considered this career. After that trip, came the computer game Flight Simulator; I spent several hours playing this and became completely addicted to airplanes and flights.

Meanwhile, to make sure I wasn’t making a mistake in choosing this field, I went on to try flying in a small aircraft and, I found myself completely submitting to its ‘majesty’, thinking to myself “how could anybody be afraid of flying?!” At that moment, it was just impossible to imagine myself doing anything else.

What do you like most about the 2 year course you are now about to conclude? What has been your biggest challenge?

Yes, I complete my course in about two weeks. It’s difficult to pin point what I’ve liked most but I simply loved the experience of flying in the cabin for the first time, it was an absolutely awesome moment! The biggest challenge for me was no doubt my ‘starting flight’, I mean, the first time I flew on my own. It was really special. I didn’t feel really comfortable in the beginning, but a few minutes into the experience, all the stress and anxiety was gone! It was really challenging mainly because you don’t want to get hurt, you don’t want to disappoint your instructor, who is trusting you really much, and lastly, you want to make a good landing (which means keep the airplane intact!…).

What are the characteristics you consider to be most important in a good pilot?

My experience is approximately zero. However, in my opinion, a pilot should be a very alert person, with a high sense of responsibility and, overall, with a very clear sense of his limits, since some aviation accidents occur due to the overconfidence of the pilot and the obvious limits they exceed.

Is there any particular moment so far you would like to share with us?

Definitely, the first time I landed in an international airport (Sevilla, Spain)! The runway was huge, compared to the ones I was used to. I was excited; I actually landed with a Boeing 737 in front of me, which made me feel like I was piloting a big aircraft too! Moreover, after landing, they had a car waiting to guide me to the parking gate! But when I really felt important was while crossing the airport terminal doors to the “crew only” area! Probably, people noticed and thought, “Look at that freshman!” It was a really interesting day.

Is there any airline in particular you would like to work for?

TAP Portugal, not only because it’s Portuguese but also because it is one of the best in the world. However, I also would also love to work for Emirates.

Is there any route you wish to do the most? And any passenger you would like to transport the most?

I would love to fly to Alaska! Even though I don’t know exactly why. The passenger I would enjoy the most to transport would definitely be my grandmother, whom I’ve promised to take to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – if that journey happens, it would mean that I’m already flying long distance and that my grandmother is still healthy enough to fly with me!

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By Zuzeeko Abeng

On this day, I met with Dr. Johanna Maula, Director of International Cultural Centre Caisa in her office in Kasaniemi, Helsinki, Finland for an exclusive interview for Dunia Magazine. Despite her busy schedule she found time to sit down with me for the following discussion.

Dr Johanna, I know you were born in Finland, but can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?

I’m 50 years old, married with two kids. I hold a Doctorate in Social Sciences. I am currently Director of Caisa – the International Cultural Centre, a position I took up in 2002. I also take time off sometimes to work at the African Development Bank. Before Caisa I worked in a number of international organizations like the ILO (International Labour Organization), UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), World Food Programme, and before that for the Nordic Council of Ministers. I have also worked for the European Commission. There are so many places. I’ve been worked with a number of NGOs and research institutes also, and I have lived in 10 countries, with work experience maybe from about 30 countries (I haven’t counted exactly).

I understand that you’ve lived in Nigeria, Sweden, Benin, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Ethiopia, Tunisia, just to name a few. While in these countries, did you have any major culture shock? If you did, can you tell us how you coped?

Well of course, I first moved to Nigeria from Finland in the 1960s. At the time, Finland was a very mono-cultural country and very much still a closed society — unlike the Finland of today which is so international and very homogeneous. In those days, everyone was basically Lutheran, white, you know. So of course, moving to Nigeria was quite a big difference because that was a multicultural and bustling country already. The city of Lagos where we lived was very different from the country sides of Finland I was from. My whole family (with my sisters) moved there, I was still a kid. We girls helped each other adjust. It was a major cultural shock, but children can adapt to anything, especially if they have a loving family with them. That helped. It was a wonderful experience. My parents made many Nigerian friends, which was great. In our neighbourhood, which was completely Nigerian, people were very friendly and helpful to our family. Those were good days.

How was it like coming back?

I was 8 or 10 years old when we returned to Finland. Coming back was actually a bigger shock. It has actually been like that almost every time — coming back always seems to be harder. I guess because of the excitement you experience when you go to a new culture and environment; you are keen on learning and discovering new things, but when you come back, it’s sort of coming back to the old. Of course, it’s also fun to reunite with family and friends in Finland, and you know — the summer cottage and things like that, are very important. But I’m always very keen on experiencing new things.

What aspects of Finnish culture or society have contributed immensely to your success?

Well, I’d say the society as a whole. Of course everyone even Newsweek has acknowledged that the educational system in Finland is very good; it is very equitable – everyone has access to high quality education, irrespective of family background. I come from an educated background — a background that has about five generations of academics, which helped me focus and I studied to the Doctorate level.

How good is Finland’s educational system?

I think with a Finnish educational background you don’t need to be embarrassed anywhere. I feel this, especially when I go to Africa, because a lot of Africans, and rightly so, don’t like Europeans who go over there and think they’re “experts”. But I think that when you have a doctorate, you can be quite confident that people respect you and take you seriously. While in Africa, I never felt that people would have been like “oh, one more white face coming to tell us what to do.”

Tell us a little bit about your organization, Caisa – the international cultural center.

Caisa has about eleven permanent posts (positions) in Helsinki, and of course, Info Bank which is now based here in Caisa has about seven staff members. Info Pankki which provides web-based information about the Finnish society was originally a project of Caisa, but now it’s a separate unit, although we are still in the same premises. We also have a few temporary employees.

The staff of Caisa seems to be clearly very diverse. As the Director, how do you manage this diversity?

Oh. I don’t think diversity is such a problem. I always say that differences in professional backgrounds can be a bigger challenge to manage than ethnic or cultural diversity. Many people who work at Caisa, even if they were born outside Finland, have lived quite long in Finland. Many are also married to Finns, so they understand the society. But of course we also have those who are new in Finland. For many of our workers, Caisa has been the first place they worked in in Finland, but I have never actually felt that ethnicity or culture would be an obstacle or problem.

Quite honestly, the diversity of our labour force has been more of an enriching factor, because a diverse staff means a connection to a diverse client base. We can say that 50 percent of our staff and 50 percent of our clientele are born outside of Finland. And you can always see very clearly that, for instance, if an employee is someone of Somalian background, we’ll have more Somalians coming in, etc. Congolese and Nigerians are very familiar with Caisa because we have a staff member who is from Congo and one from Nigeria. So it’s an asset to have people of different backgrounds.

I like that. Let me take you back to your travels. Pick one country out of the many you’ve travelled to, and tell us what your expectations were before you ventured out. Upon arrival, were your expectations met, or did they fall short?

I would say Ethiopia. I was working with the World Food programme so I was expecting it to be quite harsh. Of course, I mean, you do encounter poverty; you can’t avoid it. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, although the economic growth has been quite fast in the past years. But what I didn’t expect, what really impressed me was the richness of the culture.

Interestingly, Ethiopia, out of all the African countries, is the only one that was never colonized. So the history is really intact. You have lots of literary sources, and it’s also a country which developed its own writing system. Some 30,000 years ago when Finns were really just hunters or something like that, the Ethiopians already had their own writing system – the clergy, the aristocracy – who, according to their history, descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Shebba. It’s very fascinating. Ethiopia has a very very interesting culture and history. I was very impressed by that. And I still have to say Ethiopia is a country that I really love – the richness of the culture, wonderful music and nice food. . I hope I’ll be able to spend more time there, maybe when I retire.

The first time we talked about Dunia, you told me “dunia” means…

The World.

Exactly. So please tell us what you know about “Dunia” and how you came to know about it.

Ah, I know some Kiswahili. I studied Swahili at the University of Helsinki for three years, and my PhD work was partly based on Tanzania – where there is an island called ‘Dunia’, outside Dar es Salaam.

That’s a very beautiful language – Kiswahili – I really love it. I wish people would study it more. It’s like a lingua franca. So many people, about 100,000 people speak Kiswahili. It’s easy to learn and would be quite useful. I mean, instead of all Africans speaking English and French.

In closing, what would you like to tell readers of Dunia Magazine?

I should say that if you’re young, really invest in your education. Go as far with your education as possible. Education is something that no one can ever take away from you. Even if you don’t straight away find a job, it’s still an asset. When you’re young, it’s much easier to learn, so invest in that.

Learn languages — so that the world is open to you. Then you would be able to move to different places and not be so dependent on one country or culture. With a good educational background, a grasp of multiple languages, with a flexible character, ready to adapt to new things and curious about life and new things, I think you can succeed anywhere.
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Duniamagazine.com: Tell us a little about yourself and why you chose fashion?

Fashion design has been what I know, although we all excel at many things, but everyone tends to come to the reality of their true passion, mine is design.

Duniamagazine.com: What values are important to you and how do they influence your work?

I believe everyone should have the freedom to be exactly who they are, to express their talents and fulfill their passions to live life without obstacles; it’s something that I express in my designs a true existence of reality and life

Duniamagazine.com: What are some of your accomplishments so far?

I have put out 4 major collections, in 2 years a full Men’s and Women’s lines everything from swim wear to evening wear, also released my hand made bag collection, and jewellery line. I have established full ownership of all my manufacturing, distribution, and wholesale and opened my own retail division, first 3000 sq ft mega boutique in the heart of Toronto.

Duniamagazine.com: Who are some of your favorite fashion designers and why?

I have never been that caught up in other designers, who they are or what they do, I’m an artist and have been more drawn to the timeless art of people like Michael Angelo, Lenardo Davinci, or more recently Andy Warhol.

Duniamagazine.com: What inspires you?

Each collection I draw directly from my own emotions, through the time it takes to finish a collection , I may be feeling an emotion that drives my designs, it has always been the case, I tap into my daily life and that becomes my guide.

Duniamagazine.com: Have you had the opportunity to work with people from different nationalities? How was the experience?

Toronto is one of the most multicultural places in the world. Every nationality is fully represented all through the city, I’m able to live in the world and experience all cultures in one place; it is truly a gift, and Toronto is without a doubt where the world lives.

Duniamagazine.com: Fashion advice for our readers

Be who you want to be, wear clothes in every combination that you want so you express better who you really are. Don’t rely on others to explain how to style yourself, be your own creation.

Duniamagazine.com: What’s in the future for the HOUSE OF BRUNO IERULLO?

I’m in the middle of my next collection that I hope to show sometime late summer or early fall. Full length film documentary that was done on me was completed this past year, the director tells me it will be at various upcoming film festivals. I’m looking at retail expansion, by late this year or early next. Also fashion house will expand to a new studio sometime this fall, all in all always very busy and more seems to happen week to week.

BRUNO IERULLO MEN’S LOOK: Spring/Summer 2011 collection

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First published in Dunia Magazine Issue 3 (Feb – May 2011)

When did you travel to the United States?

I came four years ago from my home country Mexico, where I had been running my ministry, and two praise and worship schools we had started. I also worked with my pastor as a worship leader at the church. I met my husband and he brought me here.

How different is the USA from Mexico? How have your experiences been so far?

Since I arrived here, my experiences have been great. I feel so embraced by the people. I thought I was going to have a cultural shock because this is so different, but no, everything has been going smoothly. Everyone embraced me and they helped me out with my English mistakes and guided me. My husband has always been very supportive, like a cheerleader, telling me, “You can do it” all the time. That is what has been very, very important to me. I feel so embraced here. I love this country. I love the people. It’s different from mine obviously, you know the culture, the language, but I love it. Because what I do believe is that God is calling us not just to do things in our cultures, or our communities, or our homes, but to reach out to others and He gives us the grace to do that. Everything is different, like the way we celebrate Christmas is different, but what my husband and I are learning is that we are putting two cultures together and building on that.

What stands out most as being different between Mexico and the U.S. society in your eyes?

Here in America, people work all the time, it’s a very busy life.  In Mexico people work but there’s more time to spend with the family. I grew up in a household where the most important thing is family. The people here are very, very warm, but everybody is in a rush. I was surprised by that. In Mexico life was busy for me between the ministry and working in the church, but I always had my family around.

I was also surprised that kids leave home at 17 or 18 when they go to college or university. Back in Mexico at 24 or 25 you still live with your parents. Here it’s like “what’s wrong with you?” In Mexico, your parents’ home is your home and you can live there as long as you like, especially while still single. That is kind of different.

Growing up, my mentality was always to honor my marriage. I waited for my husband for so long, I kept myself for him and I waited for him. I was always praying to God to bring the right man into my life … I waited and waited and waited and finally he arrived and I said, “It took you so long! Where have you been?” Immediately, my focus became my husband, “Now my ministry is going to my husband,” I decided, “I am going to put everything aside, my plans and everything because I want to be there for him.”

And when we got married, three months later, God began to do amazing things in our lives and ministry. You have got to be obedient, because you love God and when a new season comes in your life, you tell yourself this is where God wants you to be and you’ll do this with all your heart. He knows the desires of your heart and the dreams in your heart and in the right time, he’s going to bring them to pass.

I guess that goes to show that when you put first things first, things always work out just right. How did your singing career take off here?

I call it favor, grace and my husband. I learned that when you have favor, whatever you set out to do, God will make a way and trust you more. We kept pushing. We were always praying for a certain quality and anointing and God started releasing it, now we have an amazing team working with us.  We were always asking God, “Lord, what is the next step?”

And funny how, someone who had known me from long ago and saw how God was moving in our lives invited us to perform at Lakewood Church in Houston.  We were happy and honored; it was an amazing experience. I sang in Spanish. You know in Lakewood they have both Spanish and English services. The Spanish service has about 12,000 people. It was exciting to share our music.

We keep asking God to open the right doors. I can sing in front of a few hundred people or thousands, but what matters is that God uses our lives to impact others and give inspiration to many.

What does success mean to you?

To me success means doing what God calls you to do, and you are going to be happy. You will enjoy everything around you because you know you’re doing what God calls you to do. People might think it’s having a big house, nice cars, boats, traveling around the world; but they can be so sad and lonely. I am not going against having those things because God wants us to enjoy life and be blessed.  I think I am successful because I am doing what God called me to do on this Earth. God is accomplishing the purpose He had for my life. In whatever you are called to do, give your best. Be an excellent worker, be an excellent wife in your home, be an excellent mother, be a successful husband, be a successful Pastor, because that’s what you have been called to do.

Growing up, what values were instilled in you?

In my family, we are three sisters and one brother, plus my Mom and Dad. We were a close family; I love unity – that’s how I grew up. I believe in the family and I believe in marriage. You know sometime people think, “… well we are going to first live together before we get married”, I did not like that. The bible instructs us that marriage first, then build a family on God. That’s how I grew up. Practical stuff like having dinner together at the table is very important to me. You share with the family, pray together.

My mother inspired me very much to be the woman I am today. She is a woman of God. I remember hearing her all the time worshipping and praying and as a little girl, I always wanted to be like her. She is honest and genuine. I learned from her that whatever I do on the inside will reflect on the outside. I am grateful for my parents. The Bible says that you need to ‘raise your kids in the Word of God and they will never leave or depart from the House of God’. It’s a promise.

To all parents, if your kids are going astray, just pray for them. From a young age, teach them values in line with the Word, pray with them, speak of good things that they’re going to do in life.  As parents, seek that God gives you the wisdom to raise them; He is their Father. Prophesize into their lives, don’t call them names. My mom was always like that and God used her to build something very powerful in my heart and I am so grateful for her.

Talk to us about dreams and striving to fulfill them.

You have a dream because God gave it to you.  He always gives you the resources, the information, the contacts to release that dream. Three years ago, my husband lost his job. And we didn’t have anything, hadn’t started on the album, nothing. He had a good job in Manhattan and one day it was gone. It was a difficult time. So one day he told me we had to make a choice: “Are we going to sit here and be miserable or are we going to believe in the promises of God and confess what God spoke to us, what he would do in our ministry?” We went for ten months without a job.

You know we always think when we are in need that we can’t afford to do anything for others. But God spoke to me one day in the kitchen as I was cooking – my kitchen is anointed, I tell you. I enjoy cooking a lot and that’s where I usually find answers and sometimes talk to God.

So He goes, “What I want you to do is cook. But this food is not going to be for you and your husband, you are going to find people and cook for them.” I said “Ok, Lord.” So I started to cook and invite friends to come and have dinner with us. I cooked a lot of dishes and gave, gave, gave. It is important to recognize that thinking “when I am in need, I need somebody to give to me,” is wrong. Your moments of need present perfect opportunities to give, because God sees what’s in your heart and He’ll bless you accordingly. It shouldn’t be about “me, me, me;  what I need, what I want.”  Remember the feast on the mountains with Jesus in John 6:9-14? They started with just a few loaves of bread and fish he gave to feed the people and this multiplied.

Along with this, plus confessing the word of God everyday, praying Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome” AMP, knowing that He has the best plans for us.

At the end of 2009, still nothing was happening.  It is important to remember that although you might not be seeing changes in the physical, God never ceases to work. He’s preparing something for you, to give it to you at the right time. Keep praying.

As the year was ending, I went out and printed a calendar with a nice picture and I put on the bottom “2010 – the year of favor of God”.

Nothing was moving, no money for the album, nothing. But we continued to believe. Miraculously, before 2009 ended, my husband received a call from a small company by the house and they hired him. Things were still tight. At the beginning of 2010, I don’t know how or why, the phone started ringing and people from different churches started calling to invite us over to minister. And then my husband received another call for another job. The 3rd month of 2010, doors opened for our album; it was amazing.

As work progressed on the album, I kept praying about it, asking him to supply everything for the album if He wanted me to go out and share what He had given me in an excellent way. He opened doors in big ways, as things fell in place.

God always hears the deep desires in our hearts. He listens all the time. Dream big, because He listens to those great desires. He wants to bless you; He wants the best for you. When men and women live in integrity, the blessings are going to follow them.

Tell us about your album

It came out September 2010. Called ‘Livin in Your Love’. I co-wrote the songs, we are still working to complete the album but we have released some singles, like King of Glory.

It tells you: You can sit at the table and enjoy the meal God has for you. You are a daughter and a son; live like you are loved, you are accepted and are valued. God has the best plans for your life.

What does it mean to live in the love of God in everyday life? Receive His love and share it with others –  your spouse, your kids, your neighbors. Make a change in your community, wherever you are. You don’t need to travel to make a change. Because you are living in abundance, you can give to others.

I co-wrote the song with Felicia Barton (American Idol, 3rd Season). We have a talented and dedicated team working with us; a team of worshipers is who we look for, not just performers.

We will finish the album and also release the Spanish version for the Latino community.

How do you see the next few years?

We are in expectation and trusting in God. We really want to inspire a lot of people in different countries, different languages. We believe that God is going to use us to reach others and bring them to Jesus. We see ourselves in the next few years reaching out to them through music, conferences, praise and worship.

I am a great visionary; we have to take the steps in faith. Favor comes just like the doors at the airport; you must step in front of them before they slide open.

Please give us some last words of advice.

I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that it doesn’t matter what you are going through, it doesn’t matter if the door seems closed, whatever you see in front of you, doesn’t matter. God is always, always working backstage. Be just like Zacchaeus in the Bible. He had a dream in his heart, he wanted to see Jesus, but he wasn’t very tall, he couldn’t see amongst the crowd. Jesus was going to pass by, Zacchaeus did not complain that people were treating him bad because he was short in stature you know; instead, he got creative, he climbed on a tree waiting for Jesus to pass by that day. As Jesus was passing by, he noticed Zacchaeus on the tree, “what are you doing up there? Come on, I am going to spend the night in your house.” And Zacchaeus was richly rewarded, his dream came true. All because he made a decision, took a step of faith and he got Jesus to sit at the table his house.

Be determined, be creative, trust in God and have faith. Take the necessary steps because Jesus is going to pass by and you need to be ready because He wants to come to your house!

More on Alma Rivera on her website

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