Life / Vocational Skilling

Batik is an ancient cloth dyeing technique which has been practiced in South-East Asia for many centuries.  The traditional handicraft tells a long history of acculturation as intricate patterns reflect an array of cultural influences from surrounding regions.

Although Zimbabwe is ranked among the best in Africa for literacy rates, premature school dropout and subsequent income insecurity are rampant.  Credit facilities have little on offer for those who lack collateral security, thereby limiting their earning potential due to lack of investment.  Some are labour constrained, whilst others are labour endowed; but almost all destitute Zimbabweans are food poor and without means to support their household.

As humanitarian crises have lifted in Sri Lanka, national development has shifted its focus toward building a strong economic core in the private sector and diversifying rural livelihoods.  Demographic transition that has accompanied the drive toward middle-income country status now poses some challenges regarding aged dependency.

The worldview of the Indian people towards the Dalit (lowest caste) means that they are denied the basic human right to education.  As global awareness has increased, international pressure has brought about some level of equality by reserving some places in educational institutions and government employment.

There are an estimated 100 000 people living in the Philippines who are ‘hard of hearing’.  This means they can only understand words when spoken very loudly close to the ear and have severe difficulties if there are ambient noises.

In a country devastated by years of guerilla militia and political upheaval, the rights and opportunities of children with disabilities have fallen by the wayside on governmental agendas.  This school project assists hearing impaired children gain skills necessary for productive lives.

As is typical of most developing countries, the majority of deaf Filipino children are excluded from educational institutions because of economic, cultural or logistical barriers.  The choices for the poor are stark: they can either attend the local school where they are likely to fail unless concerted efforts are made to include them, or they can evade a formal education and accept little prospect of fulfilling a prosperous career.    

Much work has been done to standardise Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) so that the deaf across the whole nation can understand and communicate with one another, from Kisumu in the West to Mombasa in the East.  Now KSL is taught to an estimated 2 600 deaf children in 32 specialty primary schools.

In some Cambodian communities, the importance of education is not fully realised.  Children follow their parents into the status quos of rice farming, building or begging that have been the only vocational options for generations gone by.

In the Philippines the incidence of poverty is 50% for those who do not complete primary school, and less than 2% for those with a college degree.  Within urban poor settlements situations at home are rarely conducive to study due to noisy and crowded spaces, obligation for family responsibilities, lack of affordable tuition, and extensive unhealthy eating habits.

Casteism leaves no respite within Indian spheres of education.  The ‘untouchables’ are without rights and frequently subject to abuse and neglect from castes above.  Whilst growing international awareness has led to some positive intervention, it is from this group of people that the bulk of India’s unskilled and uneducated still come.

Relapse back into the ‘underground’ is common amongst Mongolian ex-prisoners. Quite literally, they plunge beneath the surface through purpose-built manholes into a labyrinth of heating pipes and tunnels.

For years Thailand has unofficially been labeled the sex tourism capital of Asia, with Pattaya its most notorious hotspot, closely followed by the red-light districts of Bangkok and an assortment of nightclubs in Phuket.

Although the Indian family as a social institution is well known for the emotional and physical support that it provides to its extended members, it sometimes fails to respond to the needs of women, especially for women in difficult circumstances.