As blogspot was down last week, I couldn't write my blog so I joined twitter instead. This now means, of course, that I need to start tweeting and blogging!? Am wondering if I will end up doing things just so that I can tweet or blog about them? However it seems highly unlikely in the next month as Children Unite is gearing up for another trip to Geneva, lobbying the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with five child domestic workers.
There are a lot of logistics involved in bringing children (plus adult guardians) from three countries to Geneva. Passports and visas for nine people, registering with the ILO - it looks as though we've 'lost' one girl already - one of the girls from the Philippines wasn't issued her passport in time; so we're down from six children to five. Last year we brought another five children (again one girl had problems getting a passport) and although it was a logistical nightmare it was a fantastic experience; particularly amazing to watch the children grow in confidence over the week - both in their public speaking and lobbying and in their relationships with each other.
So, this week we're in the middle of it - finalising official documents, welcome packs, visas, accommodation, flights, event schedules (trying to find restaurants that will serve chicken and rice, last year the children didn't eat very well for the first couple of days because we couldn't find restaurants that serve plain old chicken and rice - they didn't want any of this icky fondue stuff!). In doing all this our team is having to ask friends, colleagues and complete strangers for big favours. And I'm preparing myself for a kind of madness that will take over me in the next month - it provides me with an energy so that I can keep going and get all this done. Twitter might be a more appropriate medium for me (much shorter posts) as the pressure mounts...but you can read about our progress in Geneva as we'll be regularly posting on a blogsite we set up for the project....www.standwithus-youngdomesticworkers.blogspot.com As it's taken me most of the day to write this post (usually I sit down and write it straight off)...l think the madness is approaching!
There are a lot of logistics involved in bringing children (plus adult guardians) from three countries to Geneva. Passports and visas for nine people, registering with the ILO - it looks as though we've 'lost' one girl already - one of the girls from the Philippines wasn't issued her passport in time; so we're down from six children to five. Last year we brought another five children (again one girl had problems getting a passport) and although it was a logistical nightmare it was a fantastic experience; particularly amazing to watch the children grow in confidence over the week - both in their public speaking and lobbying and in their relationships with each other.
So, this week we're in the middle of it - finalising official documents, welcome packs, visas, accommodation, flights, event schedules (trying to find restaurants that will serve chicken and rice, last year the children didn't eat very well for the first couple of days because we couldn't find restaurants that serve plain old chicken and rice - they didn't want any of this icky fondue stuff!). In doing all this our team is having to ask friends, colleagues and complete strangers for big favours. And I'm preparing myself for a kind of madness that will take over me in the next month - it provides me with an energy so that I can keep going and get all this done. Twitter might be a more appropriate medium for me (much shorter posts) as the pressure mounts...but you can read about our progress in Geneva as we'll be regularly posting on a blogsite we set up for the project....www.standwithus-youngdomesticworkers.blogspot.com As it's taken me most of the day to write this post (usually I sit down and write it straight off)...l think the madness is approaching!
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