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.
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."
One of the difficulties for Sri Lankan women is balancing family and pursuing employment outside of the home. This divorced mother of two is in the household masonry program where she makes decorative pots and tiles for homes. Divorce can be devastating for a woman in Sri Lanka as men are usually the primary wage earners. A female student emphasized the importance of flexibility of being able to work at home for women. She told us, "We can do this at home and therefore have home employment. Self employment will help us make more money for our families."
Many of the children in the courses lost family and friends in the tsunami. As the different factions of the LTTE fight in Batticaloa and soldiers patrol the street, these students focus on the future and rebuilding after the tsunami. One boy told us, "There are lots of opportunities in the society -- a few friends and I will start a company after we graduate. We are educated people who now have a future. We can offer employment to those who were impacted by the tsunami."
Some ex-combatants who were released from the LTTE participate in the vocational training programs. "The [former child combatants] don't act like the others," explained an instructor. "They can get angry and aggressive. We have to take special care for them -- through counseling and sometimes literacy courses. Counseling can help them understand. We don't single them out, though; everyone goes through the 10-15 days counseling course." The child combatants are still at risk. Of the fifty that have recently completed the program, eight have disappeared --- either rejoining the LTTE or fleeing to avoid re-recruitment.
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