Guðmundur Fylkisson or Gummi Fylkis, as most people know him, is a man with a great presence, kind and with an infectious laugh. He is the last interviewee of the podcast Strong together.
Guðmundur is a police officer who was identified as a schoolboy, but has been involved in various projects around the world as a police officer and with peacekeeping. Since November 1, 2014, he has been working to find children who have run away from home.
“The goal is to keep these children alive and bring them home while they are still children under the law.” Guðmundur has shown that his work has paid off. It submits numbers every month and the number of search requests has declined rapidly over the past year, and 2023 is off to a slow start, he says.
“With the introduction of private institutions such as Vinakots, Klettabæjar and Heilinda, it has also been possible to care for these children, and the so-called sistroku children have arrived in better institutions suitable for them.”
The work can be difficult and demanding. Guðmundur himself has four children and says he is not in favor of parents raising their children in too much cotton, for children to learn they must be allowed to stumble and learn from experience. Gummi is a unique character and it’s amazing to watch him talk about the kids that land on his table.
When asked how he managed to approach this group of children and gain their trust, he replies: “I set myself rules from the start. I decided to be honest with the children, to tell them the truth, not to deceive them and to always let them talk to me. I was always with them and I never lied to them, respect is earned.”
One of the reasons this pilot project was started, a year ago, almost nine years ago, was that a 14-year-old girl in the pap smear group died of a overdose at home. Guðmundur received a call and was asked to take on this pilot project. In those years no child died under his watch, but as he himself says: “It always gets shorter, in those years four of this group died after reaching the age of 18. years, but they are no longer in my group.” One just arrived six days after his 18th birthday, it’s really hard. Nothing changes that day. I’m afraid that a member of my group will be found dead, either by suicide or by overdose, but I hope that does not happen.”
You can listen to Guðmund Fylkisson’s interview in its entirety on the podcast Strong together.
