Irony

Today we saw a documentary about the trafficking of children from the desperately poor countries of Mali and Burkina Faso into the Ivory Coast to pick cacao pods. The major chocolate companies (Nestle, Mars, etc) have signed sternly worded protocols forbidding child labor, but the documentarian had no difficulty finding many children in every plantation he visited.

The chocolate displays in the shops of Zurich are impressive. Walls and windows plastered with chocolate bars and truffles. If you wanted to be the kind of human rights activist who swears off chocolate, you'd best not live in Switzerland (home of Nestle AND the International Labor Organisation and many UN bodies focused on human rights).

The last two days have involved mornings full of information about grievance mechanisms (yesterday) and child labor law (today). In the afternoons, we are divided into groups, each of which is given a scenario. We discuss violations represented in the scenario and the most appropriate remedies then present our findings. The depressing thing is the inefficacy of many of these remedies. I could offer details, but why review the depressingly vulnerable situation of workers and children when I can upload photos of Zurich?

This is the University of Zurich. If it looks hot, that's because it is. The high has been 91F the last two days. My guess it it's higher in our class room.

There is a lime-green coloured pool in front. My fellow students think it is ugly ("as if someone pissed in it") whereas I kind of like it.

This is the interior court of the university:

This is the view from the university:

And finally, this is in the park across the street from our hostel:

It is a heavily used park, people have picnics with their kids, sunbathe with their dogs, hang out with their fellow immigrants from Africa and Asia. Lots of different music and food. There's the drug addict who goes around yelling at people. It's just nicer than your typical city park because of the wading pools, the concrete ping pong tables, the cafe, the general tidiness. Switzerland has the tidiness thing down.
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