One of the Pacific SOS boats in front of the United Nations on launch day, August 12. Photo credit: Franco Kok Benites / Dimitri Baer
You might have noticed a flotilla of boats sailing back and forth along the shores of Geneva on Lac Leman on Saturday, 12 August 2023. Marking International Youth Day with banners flying from the sails and a group of drumming local youth announcing “Pacific SOS” you will also notice that one of the youths was Ruben Chung. We published a previous article about his non-profit Serve4Good this year at this link.
Pacific SOS is a newly launched youth movement advocating climate justice for the Pacific Islands, who are on the frontlines of climate change. We caught up with its founder, Ruben Chung, a Geneva student whose family heritage comes from Papua New Guinea to ask a few questions:
The girls of Malimba Community School after receiving their Reusable Menstruation Kits, and an educational talk on reproduction/puberty, January 2023.
When we learned about the NGO 16 year-old Ruben Chung founded we wanted to find out more. Ruben, a year 12 student at the International School of Geneva, told us, "I founded an NGO: Serve4Good: focusing on keeping girls in school in developing countries as absenteeism is a big problem due to their roles to fetch water. Because of their monthly menstruation cycle, girls end up missing about 25-30% of the schooling that their male classmates get. By the time they are in their teens, that is years of education they don't get. Many end up just dropping out."
Ruben admits that It all started out when he organized a tennis match for his friends during COVID, that the idea was sparked.
When Jessica Taylor-Hall reached out to knowitall.ch to let us know of her recently launched Fun4Kids, offering flexible childcare solutions for children aged 2-5 during the canton Vaud school breaks, we had to find out more.
Jessica writes, "It is often challenging to find childcare solutions for the 2-5 age group when many childcare places close during the school breaks. We offer bilingual camps and are located in Coppet.
"We are fortunate to be able to use the premises of an existing kindergarden (l’Ile aux Enfants), ideally situated in the prime residential area “Les Perrières” in Coppet. It’s 5 minutes’ walk from the train station and we have parking spots available. It’s also next to the school “Necker”, two playgrounds and we have plenty of green space for the kids to have fun!
Fun4Kids was launched in March 2023, with their first camps during the Easter Break 2023, see details below.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
My husband and I both work full time and are blessed to have two wonderful daughters aged 2½ and 4½. We would sometimes find ourselves in a tricky situation during school breaks as we couldn’t always find adequate childcare solutions, especially because of our kids’ young age. We found that there are quite a few offers for camps and activities during the school breaks for kids aged 5 and up, but nothing much for kids below that age, so I started entertaining the idea of doing something about it and filling that gap, and when the opportunity presented itself I created Fun4Kids.
Dr Jennie Guise, a Practitioner Psychologist, will be speaking at Oak Hill Nyon on the topic of "Assessing Learning Differences: the Why, Who and What." Enter the draw for a free ticket (worth Fr. 35.-). The event is open to teachers and parents and is held over zoom.
Seminar synopsis
- Why should we assess? Parent/carer/teacher roles?
- Who should be assessed?
- What are we looking for when students find reading/writing/maths challenging?
- Screening and standardized assessments
- The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) assessments – what do they involve?
Dr Jennie Guise, MA (Hons), BSc (Hons), MBA, MSc, PhD, PGCPSE, AMBDA FE/HE, MEd, CPsychol, CSci, AFBPsS, FHEA, SpLD APC (Patoss), EuroPsy
Dr Jennie Guise is a Practitioner Psychologist with extensive experience of assessing for Specific Learning Difficulties in Primary and Secondary Schools, Further Education, Higher Education and in the workplace. She has worked in research, and now in applied practice as founder and Director of Dysguise Ltd. She has co-authored books on assessment, teaching tips and study skills, and has edited a series of ‘How to Help’ books that cover a range of difficulties that can be faced by students in the course of their education. Dr Guise's main interests are in identifying what will help individual learners to progress, and in working collaboratively with educators, and workplaces, to apply that knowledge in practical ways.
The International Institute in Geneva (IIG), previously International University in Geneva, is a Swiss foundation of higher education. The choice to change the name from International University in Geneva (IUN) to International Institute in Geneva (IIG) embodies their long-lasting ambition to expose students to real-life situations, to solve actual problems and to be ready to take on positions of great responsibility by the end of their studies. The institution was founded in 1997 to provide bachelor and master programs:
- Business Administration
- International Relations
- Digital Media
- Computer Science
- Business Analytics
The International Institute in Geneva has both institutional and program accreditation. The institute has developed a partnership network of over twenty-two higher education institutions around the world allowing for students exchange and double degrees such in the UK and the USA among others.
The multicultural student body, faculty and dynamic environment of the Institute contribute to the creation of a framework in which the students acquire a global education. The use of experiential learning methods including case analysis and business simulations ensure the development of analytical skills which are critical in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world. The programs prepare the students to learn and lead in an increasingly digital environment.
Since 2018 the Institute proposes double degrees at the bachelor level with University of Plymouth (UK) enabling students to graduate, after three years in Geneva, with two degrees from IIG and the University of Plymouth. In 2020 the partnership was expanded to the master level with Boston University (USA) providing the students an opportunity to graduate in 18 months with two graduate degrees.
The Alumni spans over one hundred countries thus representing a unique opportunity for students to participate in a global network. The alumni of the International Institute in Geneva are working for UN agencies such as World Health Organization WHO, United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as well as multinationals such as Nestlé, Amazon or Roche. Throughout the academic year alumni are invited to present their organizations and internship opportunities to the student body.
Latest news
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8