I’ve always been a fan of Geneva, and I couldn’t wait to get there this time around. For some reason completely unbeknownst to me -- there’s no way I can put my finger on it -- the fabled Jet d’Eau is my favorite landmark in the entire world. There’s just something about it: the almost geometric linearity of it; its sheer height; the way the water gracefully settles back to the lake. I just love it. And the second time around was even better than the first.

But the Jet d’Eau aside, Geneva was a remarkable stay. Our programs were -- while fast-paced -- informative and interesting. The first, regarding the SOS Children‘s Village, addressed the emphasis of family structure in foster care. I took some good notes from this one.

The SOS program does its best to ensure that siblings stay together and the family structure fit’s the children themselves, and it also stresses the strength of the family. They say foster care should only be used when absolutely necessary, which gives a lot of peace of mind about the whole process of foster placement. For every child they place, they keep 9 others at home.

They also have some new U.N. guidelines which provides many opportunities for advocacy, lobbying various member countries to do things the ‘right way,’ yet another means of pushing back against government reluctance to adhere to guidelines that are thrust upon them.

The next program was also quite interesting. It was a bit of a bang-bang stint at the WHO, addressing topics ranging from immunization to environmental factors in children’s health. It was interesting to talk about the measles, because we in the United States rarely think about measles as a major cause for concern. But the speaker cited that in 2008, 450 people died every day (164,000 total over the year) from the disease.

Our last speaker took on the issue of environmental factors and their impacts on children’s health. Things like rapid globalization and new industrialization are the new players in the fight, and the WHO is doing its best to keep up with the changing times. 24% of global disease (23% of all deaths) is due to environmental factors, and children are especially susceptible to the environment around them, especially since their bodies consume things differently than adults, and the way they explore much of their surroundings is from the hand to the mouth.

I particularly find interesting the two programs’ quotes on children:

“Children aren’t mini people; they’re people.” -SOS Villages International
“Children are little adults.” -World Health Organization

-Zach Spittler