Primary schoolClasses 1 to 5 in Rapperswil
Class 6 in Zurich
1964
Middle School:
2 years (in Zurich)
(I was extremely lucky in that in spite of all the
wretched circumstances and the seething turmoil of
the naturalisation process, together with exposure
to xenophobic sentiment – all factors that dominated
my life at the time – I nonetheless finished school
with excellent results. My teacher at the time,
Guy Guyer, gave me the strength I needed for
this – without him I would not have managed it. He
is one of those people who have really pointed the
way for me). So that means, in my case as well –
Good teachers can be important figures and close
helpers in a person’s life
1968
Sent to Hindelbank
Taster course
asapprentice bank
clerk
Taster course as
apprentice buffet waitress and service employee
1979 - 1981
In Geneva –
Trilingual Commercial Diploma (French, English and
German).
(This
qualification made it clear to me what advantages could
be obtained in the field of commerce by using this
technology, new top the world at the time. Subsequently
I would lecture on it and give training courses over a
period of twenty years).
Since 1982
Various diplomas
at the Centre de formation WANG - Microland SA
[WANG-Microland Training Centre], including
Introduction to the PC, Lexical PC, course in text
processing etc., and later some further training
courses with Digicomp in Zurich through to an
e-learning course today, as well as ongoing
conferences and seminars with a view to making
technical progress and improving training methods in
the field of information technology.
2000 - 2003
Additional course of adult training:
course leading to a diploma as a specialist consultant
for holistic psychology, with consultancy on nutrition,
diet and health
Professional career
1968
First steps in information technology.
At just 18 years of age, the youngest “threader” in
Switzerland and Germany
R.K. asked me if I would like to become a “threader”. I
said yes to this. It was an additional activity that I
could carry on at home, in leisure clothing and with my
hair down, and I could take my own time over it. It
brought me quite a bit of money – three times as much as
I earned as an apprentice buffet waitress or bank clerk.
I had to thread a copper wire in a certain way through
eyelets that were mounted on a board. The eyelets were
numbered, and I had to read the numbers off a list. You
had to be very precise to do this work. The boards were
then programmed for the computer. This work was my first
step in information technology, which was later actually
to become my vocation, my “life’s path”. Although
I often had to work overtime hours for which I was not
paid, the work offered me freedom, which was something
that I later never wanted to be without.
Later: Experience with Bill Gates’s PC operating system =
MS-DOS
1981 - 1984
PC Course Director
in various firms and private schools in Geneva
1984 - 1990
Chief Training Officer
at the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva
1989
Three months (August to October) on a training
mission at ILO branch offices in Trinidad and
Tobago, Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico
1990 - 1992
PC Course Director
at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva
Since 1994
Freelance EDP Course Director
in Zurich, working for various training centres
(in three different languages –
English, French and German),
including mandates from
Telekurs, American Express, ETH-Zürich [Federal
Technical College, Zurich], SIKA AG, Zürich
Versicherung [Zurich Insurance] etc.
Special activities
1983 - 1988
Training assistance director
for sport for the handicapped in Geneva (swimming)
1994 - 1996
Voluntary work
helping socially disadvantaged people at the
Amtsvormundschaft Zürich [Zurich Public Guardianship
Authority] (accompanying psychically disturbed
individuals on outings from the Burghölzli psychiatric
clinic).
1998
Lectures
on various subjects: "Mobbing", "The
development of EDP", "Eating disorders" and "The
path of recovery from trauma"
2000 - 2003
Additional course of adult training:
course leading to a diploma as a specialist consultant
for holistic psychology, with consultancy on nutrition,
diet and health
2001 - 2006
Voluntary work for the Probation
and Correction Services of the Judicial
Correction Department of the Canton of Zurich
2003 - today
Involved as an Actuary / IT specialist in the
setting up, and right through to the foundation of
the Verein MediSt Aargau(Mediation im Strafverfahren
Aargau: Argovian Society for Mediation in Criminal
Proceedings). Among the aims of the Society is to
make mediation better known, with a view to the
introduction of mediation in cases of juvenile criminal
law