Programmes Workshop Day 2

Another fascinating day, with a morning looking at good practice from projects and activities in Bangladesh (mainstreaming disability into a food security project), Timor Leste (work with a Disabled People's Organisation), India (vocational training and work with government departments), Myanmar (advocacy) and Sri Lanka (working with the local church), with an afternoon out of the city (after a hasty bit of rearranging) at McKean Hospital, which is a leprosy referral hospital which also provides a wide variety of services to people with disabilities and care for the aged.  Patients at the hospital are also trained in a variety of income generating activities.  The first skills people learn are skills they can use in day to day life to save money, or to make things to sell to their neighbours, like dish washing liquid, agriculture and animal husbandry, and also handicrafts which can be sold both in the local markets and overseas (McKean supplies some of the charity catalogues most Brits will be familiar with, as well as the TLM Scotland shop).  It was fascinating to hear how the centre has developed, from a leprosy hospital, through a disability centre and now setting the benchmark for elderly care in Thailand (literally) - though still retaining their work with leprosy patients and disabled patients, particularly with patients from ethnic minorities without Thai citizenship who are scared that government hospitals would send them back across the border.  After we returned, a little time was required for the Indian, Bangladeshi and many British staff to psychologically recover from the fact that the tea break had been cancelled while we were away at McKean, and we had to go straight into the next session, which was looking at fundraising.  It is really exciting to see how the fundraising activities are developing around the globe, as the reduction in traditional sources of finance means that creative thinking is required.

Jiptha of TLM Bangladesh tells us about mainstreaming disability in a food security project in the north of Bangladesh

Bureaucracy in India - it can take a very long time to get all the required signatures from all the government departments to approve an initiative (this one is at 9 months and counting).

K from TLM Myanmar shares about their advocacy work

Guess where Francois works!  He was telling us about their fundraising options.

Hearing about TLM Angola's fundraising ideas (without having had a cup of tea!)

It was wonderful to see these paper beads being made by patients at McKean, as TLM Scotland sells some of their handicrafts - like necklaces and earrings made with recycled paper

Heather told us that salted eggs can be sold for as much as 10 times the price of ordinary eggs, so it's a very simple and effective livelihood skill to learn.

Environmentally friendly farming techniques can make a real difference in reducing chemical pesticide use and in introducing more variety to a family's diet

Dee, who works in the Assistive Devices department is one of the 40% of staff who are former leprosy patients.  He has worked at McKean for more than 30 years.

Wouldn't you like to retire here?  One of our senior colleagues is retiring soon, so we were thinking about signing him up!