Visual Mission: Vocational Programs in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka benefit former child combatants and tsunami survivors
On its recent assessment mission to Sri Lanka, Refugees International spent some time at a vocational training program in Batticaloa, a town that was hard hit by the tsunami and is at the epicenter of on-going tensions between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government of Sri Lanka. A recent split within the LTTE, and the resulting clashes between the dissident faction and the core movement, have made daily violence a fact of life for the people struggling to rebuild from the tsunami. An international NGO, World University Service- Canada, in conjunction with the government of Sri Lanka runs a vocational training program that brings together former child combatants and students in the area to learn vocational training skills such as household appliance repair, electrical wiring, carpentry, and household masonry. RI interviewed the students about their plans for the future.
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Sri Lanka 2005: Learning Electrical Wiring
09/16/2005
WUSC’s vocational training program emphasizes gender equity in all its programs. Fifty percent of the students are female. This fifteen-year-old program has challenged the gender norms of Batticaloa and is slowly bringing about change. However, it is still difficult for women to find non-traditional employment. This young woman chose to learn electrical wiring, a non-traditional vocation for a woman. She told us why she chose this field: “We can’t always depend on our parents; we want to earn our own money. At first I will join other people, then I want to start my own company. There is a lady near my house who does this. The new houses are being built after the tsunami will need electricity for them. I will be able to do the job.”
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