When it comes to most of the ‘International Day of….’ and ‘World …. Day’s, they have been instated to raise awareness and are quite effective at that, meaning that over the years they come to seem less and less relevant, after all most people are aware. With World Refugee Day the opposite appears to be the case. More people than ever appear to be aware of the existence of refugees, yet at the same time fewer people than ever appear to have real awareness of what they are talking about.
Continue reading “World Refugee Day”Author: Florence
I am the founder of and consultant at Family-Based Solutions. I have started this website and this community, and I am the moderator. I have been involved in alternative care since 2007, having been involved up close in China, Brazil, India, Kenya and Myanmar.
Initially I ran another NGO dedicated to improving the chance of survival and the quality of life of children in institutions, over time getting more and more involved with family-based alternatives and community services. In 2018 I folded the previous NGO and founded Family-Based Solutions. You can find more information on what I do now on the other pages of this website.
International Albinism Awareness Day
Albinism – being ‘an albino’ – is a condition where a person’s body does not produce any pigmentation. This leads to white hair, a very pale (or pink, because you can see the blood vessels through it) skin and eyes that are blue, but in such a pale way that the redness of the back of the eye shines through it.
Pigmentation is important to protect the skin and the eyes from UV radiation. Without this protection a person is far more likely to develop skin cancer. The eyes have very low tolerance for bright light and may have other problems with vision. This in itself deserves awareness raising. However, unfortunately there are greater problems attached to Albinism in certain parts of the world.
Continue reading “International Albinism Awareness Day”Podcast Healthcare
In today’s podcast the wider meaning of ‘access to healthcare’ is explored. Having a doctor within travelable distance is important, but if that doctor is unable to provide the care needed, can it really be called access to healthcare? This is important because lack of access to healthcare is one of the reasons behind children being institutionalised.
The next podcast will be posted in five weeks.
Please share this to help spread awareness.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:30 — 17.3MB)
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International Day of Innocent Child Victims of Aggression
Innocent child victims of aggression, unfortunately there are so many, subjected to so many different forms of aggression. And mentioning their innocence is almost superfluous… almost… if only it was not forgotten so often.
Continue reading “International Day of Innocent Child Victims of Aggression”Global Day of Parents
Tomorrow is the Global Day of Parents, a group of people who have probably the most important responsibilities imaginable, and who are least appreciated of all. Generally speaking, parents are loaded with blame if anything goes wrong, whether or not they had any influence over the situation, while little is heard when things go right.
Continue reading “Global Day of Parents”Exchanging Knowledge, Questions and Experiences
Today I am starting a six-week online course called Caring for Children Moving Alone: Protecting Unaccompanied and Separated Children, organised by Strathclyde University. The reason for taking this course, is that in order to help vulnerable children and to find suitable family-based solutions, it is essential to be aware of the needs of the children. Children from different backgrounds, in different situations, have different needs that need to be met to make sure that they are safe and that they are able to develop well and thrive.
Continue reading “Exchanging Knowledge, Questions and Experiences”What’s Ahead
A look at what you can expect over the next few months and how you can get involved in deciding what the blogs coming up should be about.
Continue reading “What’s Ahead”International Day of Families
Today is the International Day of Families, an important day to celebrate. Families are at the centre of everything Why Family-Based Solutions stands for. It is in families that children are almost always provided with the various conditions they need for proper brain development, proper psychological development, proper growth and proper health, conditions that are missing in institutions. In families this happens as a matter of course, without any conscious thought put into it.
Continue reading “International Day of Families”What’s in a Word?
A few weeks ago, an interesting discussion took place on a forum I took part in. I think it is worth sharing some of what was discussed in this blog. The discussion was about the influence of the language used when talking about moving towards family-based care. This influence turned out to be greater than one might expect.
Continue reading “What’s in a Word?”Podcast Outcomes of Institutional Care
When you read statistics about what happens when children who spent their childhood and/or youth in an institution grow up and have to face life on their own, it seems quite abstract. So in today’s podcast I want to share with you something about the lives of two adults who grew up in an institutions, to give an insight into the consequences.
The next podcast will be posted in five weeks.
Please share this to help spread awareness.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:59 — 18.9MB)
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