Global Health and Human Rights 2015

I am incredibly thankful to Geneva Summer School for making this experience possible...

I had the amazing opportunity of participating in the ‘Global Health and Human Rights’ course in the University of Geneva this summer, and for that I am forever grateful.

What was amazing about the course is that it brought together people from all over the world under one single roof. Ranging from undergraduates and postgraduates to pharmacists and physicians and so on, it was as diverse as it could get. In a group as multifarious as ours, probably the only thing we all shared in common was a unifying passion for the subject, and I think that there is something really beautiful in the harmony with which we all still got along.

The course itself was very rewarding. Not only were the lectures interesting and intellectually stimulating, they were also taught by experts in the subject matter. To name one out of many- we were taught by Professor Daniel Tarantola, who I was especially excited to learn was involved in the smallpox eradication programme in my home country Bangladesh. However, it wasn’t just attending lectures-we had case studies to do and weekly group presentations to give, all of which facilitated my understanding of the topics discussed. Role playing activities were often incorporated in our group presentations and even one time at the ILO when we were divided into three sections to represent the tripartism of the ILO. One of the perks of having a classroom brimming with diversity was that everyone could offer unique viewpoints, and I not only learned from my lecturers, but from my classmates as well. The course also granted me the privilege of visiting the UN along with many of its agencies (WHO, OHCHR, ILO). Discussions with the UN staff allowed me to get a more in-depth understanding of how the UN works. This one time we were taken to the US Mission in Geneva and introduced to a group of human rights bloggers, and hearing about all their accomplishments despite the adversity they faced was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

But it definitely wasn’t all work and no play. Be it going out on Fridays until the night would turn to day, or dinners with alpine horns playing in the background. Be it the time spent in Fête de la Musique swaying to Arabic music or joining a lake parade and just dancing down the streets, enjoying a moment which was truly just about the journey and not the destination.

And on weekends, instilled with a sense of wanderlust, we went on adventures to the neighboring cities. We visited the world heritage site that is the old city of Bern, and tried to forever imprint into memory just how breathtakingly beautiful it was. We drove to Gruyère just to try cheese fondue; we travelled to Annecy and raced each other in paddleboats; we went on top of Mont-Salève in France and looked down to see all of Geneva in all its glory.

In evenings we often had picnics by Lake Geneva and stuffed ourselves with Swiss delicacies, while we looked at the Jet d’Eau rising up to the heavens with the outline of the Swiss Apls in the distance. Sometimes we dived into the lake to escape the heat of the summer sun.

While I may have stayed in Geneva for just a matter of 25 days, I have gained a lot from my time there. But perhaps among the most important things gained are the friendships made, that transcends borders and age groups, and the knowledge acquired from the course, that has proved indispensible. And for all that, I am incredibly thankful to Geneva Summer School for making this experience possible.