Blog – Page 19

International Albinism Awareness Day

Posted on June 13, 2019June 13, 2019 by Florence

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.

Podcast Healthcare

Posted on June 10, 2019March 30, 2024 by Florence

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

Posted on June 4, 2019October 1, 2019 by Florence

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.

Global Day of Parents

Posted on May 31, 2019October 1, 2019 by Florence

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.

Exchanging Knowledge, Questions and Experiences

Posted on May 27, 2019May 27, 2019 by Florence

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.

What’s Ahead

Posted on May 20, 2019October 1, 2019 by Florence

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.

International Day of Families

Posted on May 15, 2019May 13, 2019 by Florence

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.

What’s in a Word?

Posted on May 9, 2019April 30, 2019 by Florence

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.

Podcast Outcomes of Institutional Care

Posted on May 6, 2019March 30, 2024 by Florence

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)

Subscribe: RSS

Comparing Outcomes

Posted on May 2, 2019April 29, 2019 by Florence

When you propose a move from institutionalisation to family-based care, you usually get inundated with arguments against it. The belief that institutional care is cheaper is one of the arguments (one that was already refuted HERE), but not the only one. There is usually also a fear of trusting another family, strangers, to care for a child. The feeling is that the child will be alright in the institution, because that is all organised and more or less official, but it seems dangerous to just trust ‘random strangers’ with a child, anything could happen.