Journal articles on the topic 'Women clothing workers – Manitoba'

The business clothing practices and attitude toward clothing of 313 white-collar female workers in a large state organization were investigated. The purposes of the present study were to investigate whether (1) there were significant differences in types of clothing chosen for work by managerial and nonmanagerial women, (2) there were correlations among types of clothing chosen and the attitudes toward employment clothing, career commitment, and apparel evaluative criteria, and (3) the factors contributed to the prediction of type of clothing chosen and clothing expenditures. Analysis yielded significant differences in the types of clothing chosen for work by those two groups and significant correlations between those types of clothing and clothing attitudes, and the apparel evaluative criteria. The multiple regression results indicated that the attitudes about clothing, price, career commitment, perceived new clothing needs, and age contributed to the prediction of employment clothing practices and expenditures.

This article examines three remarkable New Zealand women, Nancy Adams, Rose Reynolds, and Edna Stephenson, who, as honorary or part-time staff, each began the systematic collecting and display of colonial history at museums in Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland in the 1950s. Noting how little research has been published on women workers in museums, let alone women history curators, it offers an important correction to the usual story of the heroic, scientific endeavors of male museum directors and managers. Focusing largely on female interests in everyday domestic life, textiles, and clothing, their activities conformed to contemporary gendered norms and mirrored women’s contemporary household role with its emphasis on housekeeping, domestic interiors, and shopping and clothing. This article lays bare the often ad hoc process of “making history” in these museums, and adds complexity and a greater fluidity to the interpretations we have to date of women workers in postwar museums.

The clothing retail industry demands the performance of aesthetic labor, whereby visible employees embody a store’s desired “look.” Scholars currently understand this labor process as focused on extracting gender, sexual, and class dimensions of worker appearances to promote the company brand. Drawing on 55 interviews with U.S. clothing retail workers, the author argues that racial dynamics of this job create a tri-racial aesthetic labor process that promotes White-dominant beauty standards and exoticizes certain phenotypical forms of racial difference. Clothing retail managers often select and reward White workers, while using lighter-skinned and sometimes racially ambiguous looking Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial workers to carefully diversify brand representations. Darker-skinned Black women appear to experience exclusion, devaluation, and alienation in their performance of aesthetic labor.

In the context of theories of gender and skill, this article provides an analysis of the way new efforts to restructure domestic apparel production are affecting women production workers. The theoretical framework embodies the notion that skill has traditionally been defined by the work that men do. Women's socially and culturally devalued position has relegated them to labor-intensive, low-wage work, traditionally seen as unskilled. The emergence of new forms of international trade, changing U.S. policies, and transformations in America's financial and retail markets have contributed to new forms of labor intensity for women apparel operators. Evidence from a study of the men's tailored clothing industry and other firms producing comparable garments leads to the conclusion that efforts to restructure domestic apparel production through flexible manufacturing tend to create new forms of taylorist production in certain segments of the industry. Rather than improving the quality of work for women apparel operators, flexible manufacturing tends to intensify the labor of these workers and may have the potential to contribute to their experience of declining wages.

Researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Nairobi, and Manitoba are collaborating on a project to develop an HIV vaccine based on the immunological protection mechanisms found in commercial sex workers from the Majengo slum in Nairobi. This group consists of educationally and economically disadvantaged women who resort to commercial sex work for a living. A clinic was established in the slum to study sexually transmitted diseases, which now includes HIV/AIDS. The clinic serves as a research facility for the collaborating researchers who have been using the women's blood, cervical, vaginal, and saliva samples for the ongoing studies. The clinic runs two HIV-integrated activities: HIV research and HIV care and treatment. For HIV negative participants, samples are collected and used for research and care after they give informed consent.

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a frequent inflammatory process in women but it has not been widely studied in female sex workers FSWs . To estimate the frequency of Candida species infection in FSWs and to identify related risk factors and clinical findings, we carried out a retrospective study of 1923 FSWs over 11 years. We also performed a prospective study of 163 consecutive FSWs with a history of candidiasis during a 4 year period. Candida species were isolated in 1967 samples 18.5 of the total . Candida albicans 89.3 was the most frequent species, followed by Candida glabrata 2.7 , Candida parapsilosis 1.2 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 0.4 . In the prospective study of 163 patients, we found vaginal discharge in 76.1 of cases, soreness in 52.1 and vulval pruritus in 32.5 . We identified 12 patients 7.4 with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. No statistical difference was found between recurrent vulvovaginitis and the use of oral contraceptives, oral sex, tight fitting clothing and synthetic underwear. FSWs have the same prevalence of candidiasis as other groups of women described in published literature. The proportion of albicans and non albicans species does not differ between women with recurrent and non recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis VVC .

The garment industry is a good example of the relative autonomy of academic fields. Two histories of the industry are being written simultaneously but separately. One is a history of women; the other, a history of immigrants. Two types of workers have indeed come to the sweatshops, and each have had distinct reasons for doing so. The nineteenth century saw the shift from tailormade to ready-made garments, from the (hand-held) needle to the sewing machine, from tailors and dressmakers to garment workers, and from more to less skill in the making of clothing. The ready-to-wear revolution was also accompanied by a global shift in the sewing labor force, from men to women and from natives to immigrants. The story is a complicated one, yet one which has most often been told in parallel fashion.

The 1988 sector-based industry plan for restructuring of the Australian Textiles Clothing and Footwear industries accelerated the decline of employment in the TCF sector. Many of those thrown out of work by TCF plant closures were women, older workers, and workers from non-English speaking backgrounds who would find it difficult to re-establish themselves in the labour market. The Hawke government provided a package of labour adjustment assistance designed to help the retrenched TCF workers find jobs in other industries. This paper examines the rates of participation by retrenched TCF workers in the TCF Labour Adjustment Package. Drawing on both statistical and case study evidence it explores the different take-up rates by different subgroups of retrenched TCF workers. The paper concludes by exploring the implications for labour market interventions more generally.

The objectives of the study were to (a) investigate college students' perceived importance of occupational attributes related to the work of salespersons, clerks, and waiters/waitresses, jobs which students themselves often hold, and (b) explore the perceived role of appropriate dress in enhancement of the perception of occupational attributes associated with these occupations. Statistical analyses of the data from 134 men and 202 women supported the notion that the importance students placed on perceived occupational attributes increased as perceived job status increased; expectations for salesperson were higher than those for clerk or waiter/waitress. The results also support the notion that appropriate dress often enhances perception of occupational attributes and especially reflects the workers' perceived professionalism, intelligence, and competence.

Recent research on consumer culture and working-class femininity in the United States has argued that attention to fashionable clothing and dime novels did not undermine female working-class identities, but rather provided key resources for creating those identities. In this essay I consider whether we can see a similar process of appropriation by working-class women in Latin America. There women employed in factories had to contend with widespread denigration of the female factory worker. Looking first at the employer-run “Centers for Domestic Instruction” in São Paulo, I argue that “proper femininity” in these centers—frequented by large numbers of working-class women—reflected middle-class notions of the skilled housewife, and situated working-class women as nearly middle class. What we see is a process of “approximation,” not appropriation. I then look at the case of Argentina (especially Greater Buenos Aires) where Peronism also promoted “traditional” roles for working-class women but where Eva Perón emerges as a working-class heroine. The figure of Evita—widely reviled by women of the middle and upper classes—becomes a means to construct an alternative, class-based femininity for working-class women.

Female workers have to work both in the industry as well as at the home to meet their family’s daily need. The work pattern in food processing units is very repetitive and exposes workers to several health risks. Lack of protective clothing and equipment also exposes workers’ health to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) hazards and diseases, thereby reducing their efficiency and productivity. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to explore the awareness and incidents of occupational health hazards among female workers of small scale food processing units. The study was carried out on 30 women workers engaged in small scale food processing units. The sample was randomly selected from five randomly selected food processing units of Punjab state. Personal interview method, using an interview schedule, and observation technique were adopted to collect the relevant data. Results revealed that most of the respondents were aware about many of the occupational health hazards related to their work and all the respondents were suffering from muscle pain and discomfort because of working in awkward posture for long working hours. Majority (85 %) of the respondents were aware about the regular use of Personal Protective Equipment/Clothing (PPE/PPC) at workplace, but only 33.3 per cent were using apron, 36.7 per cent were using gloves, 26.7 per cent were using face mask and 40 per cent were using head cover at the workplace. Also because of the pain in the lower back of the respondents, many of their routine activities got affected. The present study highlighted the occupational health hazards faced by the workers of small scale food processing units and the causes of health hazards. It will be beneficial for the workers and the employers of food processing units to take preventive measures to avoid or reduce any health risks at the workplace.

This study aims to determine the existence of women workers in the informal sector in improving family welfare in Abeli Village, Abeli District, Kendari City, to find out the driving factors and inhibitors of the existence of women workers (wives) in the informal sector in Abeli Village, Abeli District, Kendari City, and the welfare conditions of workers' families woman (wife) in the informal sector in Abeli Kacamatan Abeli Kelurahan of Kendari City. This type of research used in this research is descriptive qualitative research with data collection techniques, namely interviews, observation and documentation. The existence of female workers (wives) in the informal sector in improving family welfare in Abeli Sub-District Abeli District of Kendari City was influenced by several reasons including not requiring high education, the unavailability of jobs in accordance with the level of education, the ability to divide time between work and take care of the household and the social system applied by the community give equal roles between men and women in the workforce. Factors driving the existence of female workers (wives) in the informal sector in Abeli Sub-district, Abeli District, Kendari City include motivation to increase family income and for an economy that does not depend on husbands, while factors inhibiting the existence of women workers (wives) in the informal sector in increasing family welfare in Abeli Sub-district Abeli District of Kendari City is age. As for the family welfare conditions of female workers (wives) in the informal sector in Abeli Sub-District, Abeli District has been fulfilled. This can be seen from the fulfillment of material needs, namely clothing, food and shelter needs. Fulfillment of mental / spiritual needs, namely the spiritual needs of family members and the fulfillment of social needs, namely the need for feeling accepted by the community.

The period following the first world war in England saw dramatic changes in women's clothing: the manufacturing of quality ready-made clothing brought fashion to the masses, and modern fashions helped liberate women with simpler, lighter, and more youthful designs. These changes, I argue, have great consequence for Virginia Woolf's lady of fashion, Clarissa Dalloway. In her story “Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street” (1922), Woolf produces an ultimately satirical portrait of Clarissa, who remains insulated, by class privilege and fashion sensibility, from the working world about her; but when Woolf rewrites her story as a novel (1925), Clarissa comes to feel deeply for her lower-class counterparts. The change reflects Woolf's modernist technique, which strips away Clarissa's material insulation. But Woolf's dematerialized modernism in turn echoes contemporary women's fashions, which likewise were revolting against heavy materials, exploring youthful looseness, and even allowing ladies and workers to become fashion doubles.

All over the world prostitution is linked to poverty and the responsibility for aged parents and large families. Women who have little or no education and who lack job skills fall into prostitution because they see no other alternative. Social rehabilitation of sex workers should be the priority of government programs like the one described by Tabibul Islam in Contemporary Women's Issues (Rights-Bangladesh: New Attempt to Rehabilitate Sex Workers, from Global Information Network 1999). In various parts of the world there are NGOs (non-governmental organizations) involved in health developmental issues and the prevention of AIDS, and some are offering rehabilitation programs for sex workers. For example in Bamako, Thailand, India, Haiti, and Viet Nam, some NGOs are educating sex workers about the risks of Sexually Transmiitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS and promoting job programs along with training classes in sewing, cooking and secretarial skills. Others are involved in the development of small businesses so that sex workers become economically independent from the sex industry (see Women, Poverty and AIDS: Sex, Drugs and Structural Violence. Edited by Farmer, Paul, Margaret Connors Margaret, and Jane Simmons. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press. 1996). This paper examines a project implemented in 1993 and 1997 in Antananarivo (Madagascar) for the purpose of empowering a group of sex workers. The project sponsored by foreign donors had the goal of training about 50 sex-workers in sewing and embroidery skills for the making of clothing and household goods for the tourist market. The main purpose was to promote the social reinstatement of sex workers by giving them the opportunity to learn new skills that would enable them to support themselves with dignity.

The article is considered the home workers as separated social class in first in Ukrainian history. This research is based on the using of new archival documents and the results of census 1920-1930 years. The author argues that the number and condition of workers in Ukraine is depended on many factors, among of it’s the low level of development home appliances and urban infrastructure, economic instability, dwelling overcrowding and suppressed status of women in the USSR. In the article reveals the economic position of these social groups on the basis of archival documents. The author proves that the salary played a secondary role. The most important part of the income of the young maid was not cash – but housing, food and clothing. The numerous of this social group depended on opportunity employers provide favorable conditions. The main reason for reduce of home working market was economic crisis covered in the Soviet Ukraine which began in industrialization and collectivization.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of the ex-garment workers that have turned to self-employment either in the formal or informal sector in the wake of the termination of the multi-fibre arrangement, which led to job losses. This move has given rise to a new community of entrepreneurs in the Mauritian landscape. Hence, this paper tells a story of women empowerment to disempowerment and finally the struggle for them to get re-empowered. This study also shows that there has been a limit to which self-employment led to empowerment for these women as their incomes are low, and they remain in vulnerable positions. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyses the transformation of a sample of ex-garment workers into new entrepreneurs. The analysis in this paper rests on survey data collected from 92 ex-garment female workers, who are presently self-employed in either the formal or informal sectors, in different parts of Mauritius. Findings – The findings reveal that the self-employed women in the sample, who are also ex-garment female workers, are essentially necessity-driven entrepreneurs. Most of them have only basic primary education and seem to have no other choice than to engage either formally or informally in similar activities, given their prior knowledge and experience in the textile and clothing industries. The authors also find evidence of statistically significant differences across age, marital status and household size between those women in the informal sector compared to those engaged in the formal sector. Research limitations/implications – Resource constraints aside, this study could benefit from a larger sample cutting across many other sub-sectors. So far, the results of this study are only applicable to the specific sample studied. In terms of implications, the study finds that the relevant authorities should come up with targeted policies to help these women and address and alleviate the barriers that they face. Practical implications – This study provides an insight to help explain why a large group of women have gone into self-employment in Mauritius in the past 10 years. The authors find that self-employment has provided an empowerment outlet for these women so that they can financially contribute to their household income. From the policy-making perspective, this implies that it is important for the government to support the activities of these self-employed women with conducive policies. Originality/value – The study helps to advance knowledge on self-employed women in a small vulnerable island economy context. Given that the transition from being employed to unemployed and then the move to self-employment happened in a rather short span of time for these women, the contribution of this study is also to put at the forefront the industrial changes and the individual coping strategies.

The constructed gender roles and stereotypes of women position them to be uniquely impacted by the fast fashion industry because of the feminization of the fashion industry as a whole. They are disproportionately employed in the sweatshops of the garment industry, and also are mainly targeted as the consumers of fast fashion. However, because of the different levels of privilege that consumers and garment workers hold, although they are both affected by the fast fashion industry more so than their male counterparts, gender plays two different roles in these two different situations. Ultimately, many modern fast fashion critiques take a neoliberal stance in putting the responsibility on these young fast fashion consuming women to stop the fast fashion industry. However, alternate literature suggests that other actors have immense responsibility that is often overlooked. Thus, although these relatively privileged young women do have some responsibility in the horrors of the fast fashion industry, the feminization of responsibility for the practices of the industry are unfair. When a highly feminized industry like the fast fashion one becomes problematic, the responsibility for positive change is also placed upon females. The switch to ethical and sustainable fashion as the primary, and only, type of clothing to purchase is imperative. However, this switch should not only be the consumers’ burden, but rather that of the fashion industry as a whole.

Subject area Governance challenges in reverse value chain. Study level/applicability Women employment system in textile and clothing industry. Case overview The textile and clothing firms, often frustrated by frequent labor issues, used an innovative employment scheme – Sumangali scheme – to employ young female workers from poor families in rural areas, aged between 18 and 25 years, as apprentices for three years who would stay in dormitories located in the vicinity of the factories, draw low wages with minimum benefits. But the scheme was criticized by labor unions and Europe- and US-based non-governmental organization (NGOs) on the grounds of alleged violation of labor rights such as freedom of association, freedom of movement, exploitative working conditions, low wages with minimum or no benefits, long working hours and abusive supervisors. Their public campaign against the alleged employment practices has put tremendous pressure on the global buyers to take steps to ameliorate the situation. In the wake of campaign by NGOs, few buyers have even terminated the relationship with the manufacturers. Others have warned action against those erring manufacturers. The actions by global buyers, NGOs against some of the women employment practices raised several questions in the minds of manufacturers. They were wondering why US- and Europe-based NGOs were up in arms to dump an employment scheme unmindful of socio-economic realities in India? Is it a clever ploy that developed nations use some private, voluntary, corporate social responsibility norms to stop companies purchasing textile and clothing products from a developing country like India on the grounds of violation of labor rights? As per the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 81, it is the responsibility of central/state governments to inspect and monitor labor employment practices in an industry. Then why NGOs and other private groups volunteer to become watch dogs of labor practices and launch campaigns against mills? Would it not undermine the role of government in ensuring industrial harmony? Even if NGOs' actions are justified on the grounds of moral and ethical principles, what role should they play when it comes to management–worker relationship? In the Indian context, only the government can interfere if the relationship turns sour? Should NGOs need to use a different set of ethical standards which are more relevant and contextual to the socio-economic environment in India? Expected learning outcomes To understand evolution of apparel global value chain and workforce development challenges in India; to explore the link between consumer activism and corporate social responsibility; to explore the challenge of addressing issues such as alleged human rights violation and labor exploitation by independent suppliers located in India; to explore the challenges faced by global buyers in contextualizing, operationalizing and realizing certain human rights along the supply chain located in India; and to explore sustainability challenges of women employment in textile and clothing mills in India. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Social implications Sustenance of women employment system in India's textile and clothing industry and its associated challenges.

It is a well-known fact that cottage industries can play a significant role in the development of an economy like Pakistan. As it is observed that this industry is not required too much financing, imported and highly sophisticated technology. So the problems like deficit in public finance and balance of payments is not related with the growth and development of these industries. Simultaneously, high degree of female labour force participation in this sector has also been proved in the number of studies. Which seems to be helpful in the process of reduction of poverty especially in the rural areas. The Southern Punjab especially its rural areas are comparatively less prosperous than the other parts of Punjab. A number of female workers can be seen in the rural areas of Southern Punjab. The concentration of these workers is in few traditional areas and is characterised by the low technology and low production levels. These areas are typically those, which require skills that are basically the extension of household skills or which reflect a specific educational and employment experience of women. It has also been observed that women’s income of the rural areas of Southern Punjab are more likely than their male partners to go towards meeting their family’s basic needs. These women spent most of their business income on the households, food, clothing and education of their children rather than reinvesting it in their business.

This paper provides a preview into new primary research into sexual exploitation and human sex trafficking in Canada. The project, for which interviewing is complete and analysis is now underway, is qualitative research taking a grounded, open-minded approach with an underlying hypothesis that better outcomes may be gleaned from systems of service providers and stakeholders through improved coordination and collaboration. Previous research on related topics has often overlooked key stakeholders including police, prosecutors, political, First Nations and other community leaders. This research casts a wider net, incorporating the voices of over 65 experts across Manitoba, including: experiential survivors of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, police, social workers, Aboriginal leaders, and people working in numerous non-government organizations who work to prevent sexual exploitation and assist victims to escape the sex industry. The research was focused in Manitoba where women and children continue to be victimized in the sex industry despite having one of the most comprehensive and well-funded counter sexual exploitation strategies of any province in Canada. The questions asked of subjects were designed to highlight barriers and opportunities for improved collaboration, interdiction and response to prevent people from being exploited in the sex industry and help others to escape it. While the data is in the early stages of analysis, some strong themes are already apparent to the researcher. These themes suggest that there may be a significant correlation between vulnerability to sexual exploitation and poverty, lack of opportunities, familial environment and relationships, and resilience. Generally, people from all perspectives seem to be stressing that there needs to be better coordination of resources, and more education and awareness across society on this issue.

Serological studies in developed and developing countries using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays have validated this technique as a rapid, noninvasive method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infections. The prevalence of serum antibodies to H pylori was studied in 473 Canadian blood donors from Manitoba, 212 healthy Japanese. and 226 healthy Americans. As expected, the seroprevalence rose progressively with age in the three populations and reached its peak (greater than 55%) in subjects 60 years of age and older. The seroprevalence did not decrease in elderly persons (60 to 99 years), indicating a persistent immune response. More detailed analysis was perfom1ed on the Canadian population. Age-adjusted prevalence rates in men and women were similar. Among young adults (15 to 29 years). farmers had a significantly higher seroprevalence rate than white-collar or blue-collar workers. but in older persons occupational rates were similar. A multiple linear regression analysis of the data confirmed that age and occupation in young adults were both significantly associated with seroprevalence of H pylori infections.

Poverty is a global problem, often associated with needs, difficulties and deficiencies in various living conditions, especially in the agricultural sector. The picture of material shortages which usually includes daily needs for food, clothing, housing, and health services. The problem of poverty in rural areas is more commonly found in dry land-based areas, and the symptoms of poverty are caused, among others, by the relatively less natural carrying capacity, Socio-economic infrastructure is not evenly distributed and institutions have not yet reached the local community and the quality of human resources is still relatively low. This study aims to describe: (1). What are the factors that cause peasant women to become migrant workers abroad, (2). Describe the impact of international migration of female workers (TKW, on the socio-economic conditions of the farming families left behind, while the TKW is abroad, 3) Describe the impact of international migration of female workers (TKW), on the socio-economic conditions of farming families, after TKW returns to their home area The results of this study are as follows: the study shows there are (1) factors that influence respondents to make international migration which are grouped into three parts, namely: personal factors, push factors, pull factors. The amount of remittance contributions for basic household needs. The chosen business capital is trading or opening a shop, while savings or savings are in the form of jewelry because according to them jewelry is also useful to show prestige in society.

Islam teaches that husbands are obliged to provide for their families. But not a few women are just working after they get married to help the family's economy. Family background that is not capable of causing people not to have higher education. Low education makes people work in the informal sector with relatively low salaries. The low salary received is not enough to meet daily needs, especially the needs of clothing and shelter. This shortage triggered the wives to work abroad with high salaries even though they worked in the informal sector. This study aims to describe the investment pattern of Indonesian female workers in Sikanco Village, Nusawungu, Cilacap District. The results of this study concluded that the informants who invest in savings are many but over time their savings are used up to meet their daily needs. The majority of female workers do not invest in deposits, only one person has ever invested in deposits. However, as time went on after returning to Indonesia, the deposit was used up because migrant workers did not have income, so they used the deposit money to sufficient needs. There are no migrant workers who invest in shares. This is because of the ignorance of the migrant workers and their families about investing in shares. The majority of informants invest in property because it is in the investment village because more investment villages are chosen. Investment in collectibles such as motorbikes and cars is quite attractive to informants because it can be used as a means of transportation. The majority of respondents invest in gold, because in addition to investing in gold can be used as jewelry. Many female workers who were respondents in this study kept foreign currency, but it ran out over time. There are no respondents who invest in bonds, because of the unknown knowledge of migrant workers and their families regarding bonds.

AbstractObjectiveEmergency and core ambulance personnel work under all environmental conditions, including severe weather condtions. We evaluated emergency medical personnel in Çanakkale, Turkey, for their degree of preparedness.MethodsA descriptive study was conducted in Çanakkale, Turkey, within 112 emergency service units and their 17 district stations. Surveys were developed to measure the level of preparedness for serious winter conditions that individual workers made for themselves, their homes, and their cars.ResultsOf the 167 survey participants, the mean age was 29.8 ± 7.9 years; 52.7% were women; more than half (54.75%) were emergency medical technicians; and 53.3% were married. Only 10.4% of those who heated their homes with natural gas had carbon monoxide detectors. Scores relating to household and individual preparation for severe winter conditions increased by participants’ age (P < .003), being married (P < .000) and working in the city center (P < .021); and for men whose cars were equipped with tow ropes, extra clothing, and snow tires (P < .05). Absenteeism was higher for central-city personnel than district workers because they were less prepared for harsh winter conditions (P = .016).ConclusionMany of the surveyed emergency health personel demonstrated insufficient preparations for serious winter conditions. To increase the safety and efficiency of emergency medical personnel, educational training programs should be rountinely conducted. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-4)

This article discusses the role of professional social workers in promotion of quality of life of children orphaned by AIDS. Children orphaned by AIDS are the children, who have the age of below 18 years, and lost one or both biological parents due to AIDS. It is estimated that there are 13.8 million children worldwide had lost mother or father or both parents to AIDS as of 2020. Children orphaned by AIDS face economic, social, psychological, and health problems. It is very difficult for them to access the basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing as well as education. This study conducted in two states of India i.e. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with 316 children orphaned by AIDS. The study found that women-headed, granny-headed and child-headed families are more in HIV affected families. Stigma and discrimination were faced by 64.2 per cent respondents. About 35 per cent of the children are not attending the schools regularly, 72.2 per cent respondents required psycho-social support. Social work is a practice-based profession and it believes that every child is unique. There is a lot of scope for the practice of social work profession with these children. Social workers work as a social case-worker, social group worker, community organizer, social activist, social welfare administrator, social researcher, counsellor, communicator, and educator etc. to promote the quality of life of children orphaned by AIDS. This study suggested a strategy to work with children orphaned by AIDS.

African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) is a nutritious source of food since it is rich in protein and some beneficial health vitamins. The processed locust bean product (iru) is often containing impurities which are attributed to poor food safety procedures. Hence, this study examined food safety practices in locust bean and its implication on rural women well-being. Interview guide was used to collect data from 320 respondents. Data collected were analyzed with regression analysis at p < 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that compliance to food safety practices was very poor for 93.8% of the respondents. The well-being of 64.4% of the respondents was poor. In addition, more than 60% of the respondents cannot cater for clothing, children’s education and health care through their monthly income from locust bean product. Results of regression showed that significant relationship exited between washing of hands before and after locust bean processing and well-being (β = 1.42). Also, results of regression showed that proximity of processing units to refuse dump sites (β = 0.94), scarcity of raw locust seeds (β = 0.48), and lack of modern processing facilities (β = 0.34) are most serious problems to locust bean processing that affected the rural women’s well-being at p < 0.05. This study concludes that food safety practices and constraints are determinants of rural women’s well-being. The study recommends that efforts should be geared towards enforcement of food safety practices by the nutritionists, community health workers and extension agents in order to obtain safe locust bean product for high income and good well-being of rural women.

ABSTRACTIn this article, we use clothes as a tool for exploring the life stories and narratives of people with dementia, eliciting memories through the sensory and material dimensions of dress. The article draws on an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study, ‘Dementia and Dress’, which explored everyday experiences of clothing for carers, care workers and people with dementia, using qualitative and ethnographic methods including: ‘wardrobe interviews’, observations, and visual and sensory approaches. In our analysis, we use three dimensions of dress as a device for exploring the experiences of people with dementia:kept clothes, as a way of retaining connections to memories and identity;discarded clothes, and their implications for understanding change and loss in relation to the ‘dementia journey’; andabsent clothes, invoked through the sensory imagination, recalling images of former selves, and carrying identity forward into the context of care. The article contributes to understandings of narrative, identity and dementia, drawing attention to the potential of material objects for evoking narratives, and maintaining biographical continuity for both men and women. The paper has larger implications for understandings of ageing and care practice; as well as contributing to the wider Material Turn in gerontology, showing how cultural analyses can be applied even to frail older groups who are often excluded from such approaches.

Abstract In both World Wars, combatant nations, including the United States, Britain, and Germany, learned that inadequate or poorly-maintained footwear produced costly and preventable casualties from trench foot and frostbite. While provision of shoes and boots to troops were major issues in earlier conflicts, no nation before World War I had fully appreciated the significance of warm, dry, well-fitting socks to the effectiveness of soldiers in the field. The large numbers of trench foot casualties in World War I, especially among the French and British, convinced policymakers that this vital commodity must receive a higher priority in military production planning, but few nations in wartime could shift production to knitting mills rapidly enough to make a difference. Thus, in Britain and the U.S, the best policy option proved to be recruiting women and children civilians to knit socks by hand for the military in the first war, and for refugees, prisoners and civilians in the second. This paper discusses the economic and military importance of this effort, including the numbers of pairs produced, and the program’s role in supplementing industrial production. The production of this low-technology but crucial item of military apparel is typical of detail-oriented tasks performed by women under conditions of full mobilization for war, in that they have a high impact on battlefield and home front performance and morale, but very low visibility as significant contributions to national defense. Often, both during and after the emergency, these efforts are ridiculed as trivial and/or wasteful. Unlike women pilots or industrial workers, handcrafters of essential supplies are regarded as performing extensions of their domestic roles as makers and caretakers of clothing and food. This was especially true in the U.S. in and after World War II, a wealthy industrialized nation that took pride in its modern - and thoroughly masculinist - military industrial complex.

Contemporary India is a primitive, patriarchal society of various feudal tribes. When we refer to caste in the political and economic structures of many cultures, we understand the apparent dichotomy between faith and the role of "one woman". Any theoretical understanding of gender equality and gender inequality must be deeply anchored in the field of social control. Dalit women, especially Muslims in India, are seen to be present at a crucial moment when they must overcome three barriers at once: class, race, and masculinity. These are the three hierarchical poles of the social constitution that are necessary to recognise the gender relations and inequality of Dalit women. In Indian society, Muslim dalit women face unintentional discrimination based on caste, class, and gender. The "untouchables" must live only in shackles, have no domestic property, cook only in porcelain houses, wear only cast-iron clothing, and own no land. This has a long-lasting effect on the experience of the completely weak living conditions of the Dalits, especially women who cannot drink water from popular sources in the villages, become starving workers, engage in trafficking, or commit suicide. Dalit women significantly. Muslim Dalit women have been victims of sexual assault in rural India. The disadvantages of Muslim Dalit women are among the most notable exceptions; their disadvantages are never part of the battle for women in India. However, bourgeois feminism did not advance all the real issues of Dalit women by setting the feminist agenda. The additional bias against Muslim Dalit women due to their gender and caste is evident in the numerous successes achieved by the human development metrics of this group. In all aspects of human growth, literacy, and survival, Muslim dalit women are far worse off than Dalit men and non-Dalit women. This study aims to comprehend the larger connotations that connect Muslim Dalit women's social spaces to COVID-19. Another significant change in the lives of Dalits and their commercial feasibility is the consequence of the transition from a socialist to a democratic state that does not resolve the problems of social security. As a result, the capitalist class of modern liberation engages in sexual relations with Dalit families. The lives of Muslim Dalit female labourers are wrapped up in the obstacles posed by the Brahmanic economy, which is governed by the community. Muslim dalit women's domestic and foreign labour is deeply ingrained in many segments of the community. In conjunction with these social and political trends, the mistreatment of Muslim Dalit women is on the rise, as is subtle or extreme discrimination within Dalit households. As a result, this paper aims to elicit queries from Muslim Dalit women during the COVID-19 period.

Abstrak Indonesia merupakan negara berkembang yang mengirimkan banyak tenaga kerjanya ke negara maju. Indramayu adalah salah satu daerah pengirim tenaga kerja terbanyak dan didominasi oleh wanita atau yang disebut dengan buruh migran perempuan. Pascamoratorium, banyak buruh migran asal Indramayu yang dikirim untuk bekerja di negara-negara Asia Timur, seperti Taiwan, Hongkong, Jepang, dan Korea. Terdapat fenomena menarik yang muncul pada masyarakat Indramayu, yakni buruh migran perempuan yang menggunakan cadar pascakepulanganya bekerja di negara-negara tersebut. Buruh migran perempuan tersebut mendapatkan nilai-nilai Islam setelah bekerja di negara Asia Timur, yang penganut agama Islam di sana sebagai minoritas. Melihat fenomena tersebut penulis tertarik untuk meneliti lebih mendalam mengenai buruh migran perempuan bercadar. Penelitian ini merupakan sebuah penelitian yang menggunakan analisis sosiologis untuk mengungkapkan kehidupan buruh migran perempuan bercadar dengan menggambarkan suatu konstruksi sosial buruh migran perempuan bercadar asal Indramayu. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian lapangan dengan menggunakan analisis data kualitatif. Metode pengumpulan data yang digunakan yakni melalui observasi dan wawancara. Dengan dikaji lebih mendalam melalui teori konstruksi sosial Petter. L. Berger yang terdiri dari proses eksternalisasi, objektifikasi, dan internalisasi. Dari penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa proses konstruksi sosial buruh migran perempuan bercadar di Indramayu melalui tiga proses yakni pertama, proses eksternalisasi melalui media sosial, kajian, serta teman sejawat. Kedua, proses objektifikasi ditandai dengan adanya anggapan bahwa cadar sebagai bentuk kesalihan seorang muslimah, munculnya penyesalan di masa lalu sebelum mengenakan cadar, serta signifikasi. Dan yang ketiga, proses internalisasi yakni ditunjukkan dengan penggunaan cadar sebagai pakaian sehari-hari, semangat berdakwah baik di media sosial maupun di organisasi untuk mengajak orang lain mengenakan cadar. Abstract Indonesia is a developing country that sends a lot of its workers to developed countries. Indramayu is one of the most labor-sending areas and is dominated by women or what are known as female migrant workers. After the moratorium, many migrant workers from Indramayu were sent to work in East Asian countries, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. There is an interesting phenomenon that arises in Indramayu society, namely female migrant workers who wear a veil after returning to work in these countries. These female migrant workers get Islamic values ​​after working in an East Asian country, where Muslims are a minority. Seeing this phenomenon, the authors are interested in investigating more deeply the veiled female migrant workers. This research is a study that uses sociological analysis to reveal the life of veiled female migrant workers by describing a social construction of veiled female migrant workers from Indramayu. This research is a field research using qualitative data analysis. The data collection method that the writer uses is through observation and interviews. With a deeper examination through Petter's social construction theory. L. Berger, which consists of the process of externalization, objectification and internalization. From this research, it was found that the social construction process of veiled female migrant workers in Indramayu went through three processes: first, the process of externalization through social media, studies, and peers. Second, the process of objectification is marked by the assumption that the veil is a form of distraction for a Muslim woman, the emergence of regret in the past before wearing the veil, and its significance. And third, the internalization process, which is shown by the use of the veil as daily clothing, the spirit of preaching both on social media and in organizations to invite others to wear the veil.

<em>This study aims to determine the consumption patterns of female porters in the Magetan vegetable market. The type of research used is qualitative research through a case study approach. The total number of informants is 40 people. Collecting data through observation, interviews, documentation. The validity of the data using triangulation. The data analysis technique uses data reduction, data presentation and verification. The results showed that, (1) Due to the high economic needs, and low income, the women chose to become porters, they chose this job because there was no other job. (2) There is not much income per day as porters, they work from morning at 07.00-15.00 WIB, they earn around Rp. 50,000-Rp. 70,000. (3) Before becoming porters, among them were only household workers, fried food sellers, farm laborers, where they rarely had buyers. (4) Obstacles that are often experienced by female porters are decreased health factors, bone pain, sometimes colds, dizziness. In addition, there is another factor, namely the quiet market conditions. (5) With a mediocre and uncertain income, female porters always prioritize basic needs, namely clothing, food, and housing. However, if they have more money, they will choose to save it, just in case there is an urgent need. (6) From the interviews, according to them the needs that have been fulfilled, namely household needs including kitchen needs, electricity bills, PDAM water bills, children's school bills, and basic needs can be met every day</em>

Although access to adequate sanitation is formally recognized as a basic human right, public toilets have long been flagged as absent necessities by groups marginalized by class, gender, race, and ability in the United States. Navigating public spaces without the guarantee of reliable restrooms is more than a passing inconvenience for anyone needing immediate relief. This includes workers outside of traditional offices, people with medical conditions, caretakers of young children, or anyone without access to restroom amenities provided to customers. This absence is also gendered in ways that constrain the freedom of those who menstruate to participate in the public sphere. Managing menstrual hygiene requires twenty-four-hour access to safe, clean facilities, equipped for washing blood off hands and clothing and mechanisms for discreet disposal of used menstrual products. Public provision of such amenities is woefully inadequate in New York City (NYC), and homeless women especially bear the brunt of that neglect. Public health concerns about open defecation, coupled with feminist complaints that their absence restricted women’s ability to be out in public, catalyzed state investment to construct public toilets in the late 1800s. By 1907, eight had been built in NYC near public markets, and by the 1930s, the city built and renovated 145 comfort stations. However, changing public perceptions, vandalism, maintenance costs, and the City’s fiscal crisis in the 1970s all combined to reduce their numbers and degrade their quality. Public pay toilets provided a brief respite before falling victim to protest by feminists, who were rightly dismayed by policies that required payments for public usage of toilets but not for urinals. Supply deteriorated, and by 2019, NYC ranked ninety-third among large U.S. cities in per capita provision of public toilets. The remaining facilities are inadequately maintained and poorly monitored. The absence of public toilets poses an everyday challenge, but public health emergencies bring the need for public toilets into clear focus––as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, which eliminated publicly accessible bathrooms in both private and public settings. That said, the effects of COVID on bathroom availability disproportionately affected those who were unable to heed the public health message to shelter at home––mobile “essential workers” and individuals experiencing homelessness. Homelessness advocates have long complained that civic toilet scarcity amounts to de facto entrapment, turning biological necessities into “public nuisances” for want of appropriate facilities. Criminalizing public urination and defecation in the absence of public facilities punishes the existence of individuals experiencing homelessness and challenges outreach workers’ efforts to gain their trust. With women increasingly prominent among those living on the streets or in shelters, this scarcity also impedes managing menstruation. Default reliance on private business is no answer for anyone defying passable “customer” profiles. Nor does the recent success of NYC’s “menstrual equity” efforts in schools, prisons, and shelters, with their primary focus on supplying menstrual products, suffice to cover the daytime needs of those on the move.

Resumen: En 1917, en plena Guerra Mundial, los países occidentales perciben los episodios de agitación social generalizada como un daño contagioso. Conmocionan las imágenes que se captan en Rusia: los muertos en la calle, los obreros dominando las plazas públicas, las mujeres defendiendo con las armas el palacio del Zar o peleando en las calles. Mientras las mujeres occidentales enlazaban sus luchas en una suerte de continuidad, las activistas rusas habían avanzado posiciones en la demanda de responsabilidades en el esfuerzo de guerra y en la inserción en el ejército. Luciendo estas mujeres la cabeza rapada, el pecho bien apretado bajo la ropa militar y apostura varonil, bajo el Gobierno Provisional el Ministro de Kerenski autoriza la organización de los Batallones de Mujeres, Batallones de la Muerte, para luchar en el frente. Una campesina, María Bochkareva, lideró estas unidades. Con la Revolución, sin embargo, el Ejército Rojo desarticula los Batallones, y purga a estas mujeres, al considerarlas representantes de la burguesía. En estas páginas se narra la coyuntura histórica que vio nacer a los Batallones de Bochkareva, se revisa la tradición del activismo ruso y el periplo vital de algunas voluntarias rusas en la Primera Guerra Mundial. También los hechos revolucionarios que modifican la suerte de las mujeres soldado durante la Guerra Civil, y la creación internacional del mito de la heroína rusa a partir de la figura de María Bochkareva. A pie de página, la bibliografía aportada en las notas sirve de punto de partida para una futura reflexión sobre los modos del activismo feminista menos habituales en la experiencia contemporánea, y de entre los cuales destaca este del ejercicio voluntario de la violencia.Palabras claves: Primera Guerra Mundial, Rusia, Gobierno Provisional, Revolución, 1917, Batallones de Mujeres de la Muerte, Bochkareva.Summary: In 1917, with the First World War still raging, Western countries perceived the episodes of generalised social agitation as contagious destruction. The images captured in Russia were shocking: dead in the street, workers dominating public squares, women defending the Czar’s Palace, bearing weapons and fighting in the streets. While Western women were creating links through diverse struggles, Russian activists had advanced their positions demanding for responsibilities in the war effort and insertion into the army. Showing their heads shaven, their chests tightly wrapped under military clothing and their manly looks, the Battalions of Women, Battalions of Death, were formed under the Provisional Government and Minister Kerensky and were authorised to fight on the front. It was the peasant Maria Bochkareva who led these units. With the Revolution, however, the Red Army dismantled the Battalions and purged the women in them, considering them as representatives of the bourgeoisie. This paper describes the historical context of the emergent Battalions of Bochkareva and reviews the tradition of Russian activism and the vital journey of some Russian volunteers in the First World War. Furthermore, it reviews revolutionary facts impacting the fate of women soldiers during the Civil War and the international creation of the myth of the Russian heroine from the figure of Maria Bochkareva. The bibliography provided in the footnotes may be a starting point for a future reflection on those modes of feminist activism, which are unusual in contemporary women’s experience, including the voluntary exercise of violence.Key words: First World War, Russia, Provisional Government, Revolution, 1917, Women’s Battalion of Death, Bochkareva.

In recent years, research on social minorities and the weak, such as women, the disabled, and Hansen, has begun to be conducted within the historical community in line with the growing interest in social minorities. In line with this trend of the times, the relief study on the traditional Chinese era can be an important link in examining how the field of social work was established and developed as a mechanism of protection and integration for the socially disadvantaged during this period. Instead of girls, the trend of belittling was rooted in the unique cultural soil of the Fu-Jian region and entwined with economics, population, family ethics, and wedding customs, becoming an exclusive state. Since then, as the government has taken the lead in implementing the relief policy for orphans since the early Qing Dynasty, orphanages have been intensively built in the Fu-Jian area, which was most vulnerable to this problem. Therefore, the rules of operation of orphanages also focused on the food, clothing, and medical services of children in the facility. However, since then, changes to various policies have been attempted as operational personnel, financial limitations, and various evils occurring within the facility have been amplified. For example, the problem of non-professionality and exploitation of allowances of orphanage workers was serious, and as the social and economic environment worsened, the number of dependents increased, and the protection program in the facility became insufficient. Therefore, the operation policy of adopting girls to general families began to be subdivided and operated. In the orphanage in the Fu-Jian area, an operating system for encouraging and post-management of girls has developed. In families adopting, adoptive daughters were relatively the center of the choice, and they directly raised them to form an artificial family relationship. This development of social relief reflects the social policy on the life-saving of abandoned children, and it can be said that it was actively promoted in order to expand the social safety net of completing familism.(Chosun University)

<p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">O objetivo deste artigo é analisar duas realidades de trabalho marcadas pela flexibilidade e precariedade, e com presença de uma força de trabalho intensiva de mulheres, na Região Nordeste do Brasil. A primeira, envolve mulheres que atuam como costureiras externas em facções domiciliares do Polo de Confecções do Agreste Pernambucano. Na segunda, temos o protagonismo feminino interno à produção têxtil no município de Jardim de Piranhas-RN. A divisão sexual do trabalho apresenta uma centralidade em ambas as experiências, seja reforçando os lugares clássicos que homens e mulheres ocupam na produção e na reprodução, seja apresentando questões novas. Foram realizadas visitas e entrevistas nos dois contextos produtivos, o que permitiu um contato com as experiências de trabalho das mulheres. No primeiro caso, o trabalho domiciliar significa a busca por autonomia e liberdade, no qual temos também a entrada dos homens na atividade de costura. No segundo, as mulheres tornam-se proprietárias de teares e a presença dos homens ainda é pequena. No entanto, esses fatores não repercutiram positivamente nas desigualdades de gênero, uma vez que as tarefas domésticas permanecem inalteradas e, mesmo com as longas jornadas de trabalho, elas não percebem as condições desiguais.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">WORK RELATIONS AND GENDER INEQUALITIES IN THE NORTHEAST TEXTILE AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">The aim of this article is to analyze two realities of work, marked by flexibility and precariousness and with an intensive workforce of women in the northeastern region of Brazil. The first involves women seamstresses in household factions of the Confections Pole of the Agreste of Pernambuco State. In the second, we have the female protagonism within the textile production in the municipality of Jardim de Piranhas-RN.The sexual division of labor is central to both experiences, either by reinforcing the classic places that men and women occupy in production and reproduction, or by presenting new issues.Visits and interviews were carried out in the two productive contexts, which allowed contact with the labor experiences of women. In the first case, home work means the search for autonomy and freedom, where we also have the entry of men in sewing. In the second, women become owners of looms and the presence of men is still small. However, these factors did not have a positive impact on gender inequalities, since domestic chores remain unchanged and even with long working hours, women workers do not perceive themselves as people generated in an oppressive and dominant society and in unequal conditions at work.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">Keywords: Textile and clothing industry. Female work. Gender inequalities. Informality. Precarious work.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">RELATIONS DE TRAVAIL ET INÉGALITÉS DE GENRE DANS L’INDUSTRIE NORD-EST DU TEXTILE ET DES VÊTEMENTS</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser deux réalités du travail, marquées par la flexibilité et la précarité et avec une main-d’œuvre intensive de femmes dans la région nord-est du Brésil. Le premier concerne les femmes couturières des factions ménagères du Pôle Confections d’Agreste de l’état de Pernambuco. Dans le second, nous avons le protagonisme féminin au sein de la production textile dans la municipalité de Jardim de Piranhas-RN. La division sexuelle du travail est au cœur des deux expériences, soit en renforçant les places classiques qu’occupent les hommes et les femmes dans la production et la reproduction, soit en présentant de nouvelles problématiques .Des visites et des entretiens ont été réalisés dans les deux contextes productifs, ce qui a permis un contact avec les expériences de travail des femmes. Dans le premier cas, le travail à domicile signifie la recherche d’autonomie et de liberté, où l’on a aussi l’entrée des hommes dans la couture. Dans le second, les femmes deviennent propriétaires de métiers à tisser et la présence des hommes est encore faible. Cependant, ces facteurs n’ont pas eu d’impact positif sur les inégalités entre les sexes, car les tâches domestiques restent inchangées et même avec de longues heures de travail, femmes qui travaillent ne se perçoivent pas comme des personnes générées dans une société oppressive et dominante et dans des conditions de travail inégales.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0.35cm; line-height: 100%;" align="justify">Mots-clés: Industrie textile et habillement. Travail féminin. Inégalités entre les sexes. Informalité. Travail précaire.</p>

The month of October comes with a familiar sight of ‘pink ribbon’ display and events organized in this context, globally. While this is an integral part of the international calendar in the developed world, developing countries like Pakistan attach little importance to promotion of this concept brand. One of the reasons for this apathy is a lack understanding amongst the social circles and general population about what the pink ribbon advocates. This editorial is meant to highlight the true spirit and importance of this symbol. A ‘pink ribbon’ is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness with the month of October referred to as ‘pinktober’ chosen as the breast cancer awareness month in many countries over the world. Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst the female gender with more than one million women worldwide diagnosed with the disease every year. The WHO in its global health estimate reported 508000 deaths in women worldwide from this disease in the year 20111.More than 58% of deaths from breast cancer are known to occur in less developed countries2, which sets aside the misconception that the disease is a problem of the more affluent class. Early detection of breast cancer with its favorable impact on morbidity and mortality associated with the disease is now established as the cornerstone of management3. Against the backdrop of the magnitude and impact of this condition there is a dire need for creating awareness about the symptoms and treatment of the disease as well as promoting research and facilities leading to early detection, multimodality treatment and support for those suffering from the disease. Pink ribbon as a concept brand allows a platform to achieve these goals by raising money and encouraging scientific progress. The first known use of Pink Ribbon dates back to 1991 when it was handed out by the Susan G Koman foundation to participants of a New York city race for breast cancer survivors and adopted as an official symbol in 19924. Buying, wearing, displaying or sponsoring pink ribbon is a sign of support for women health. Thousands of pink ribbon products are advertised and sold each year with part of the earnings spent in promoting breast cancer awareness and funding research. The month of October as the national breast cancer awareness month (NBCAM) was started in 1985 by the American Cancer Society and pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca. The organization behind NBCAM is keen on promoting mammography as a screening tool for early detection of breast cancer. Running, walking and riding besides observing pink dress day and pink hijab day form the essence of events organized globally as fundraisers under this banner. The campaign for helping breast cancer patients is not limited to diagnosis and treatment only. Addressing the burden of physical, social and psychological stigma associated with the disease is as important as the initial steps in management. The term She-ro, derived from hero is sometimes used to refer to those suffering from the disease. After treatment, the she-ro regains her femininity by using breast reconstruction, prosthetic devices, wigs, cosmetics, and clothing to present an aesthetically appealingappearance5.Breast cancer culture, or pink ribbon culture, refers to steps taken in public to effectively address different aspects of the disease. It supports the efforts of the doctors, promotes diagnostic modalities such as mammograms and various treatment options on offer for breast cancer patients. Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer in Asia. One out of every nine women is at the risk of breast cancer making the Pakistani women most susceptible to the disease after the non Arab Israeli women6. Studies have shown that a significant number of young women make the afore-mentioned list. Therefore, Pink Ribbon has reading-prc-Iterature been running Youth Awareness Program in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) since 2012. This program not only educates the young women about the importance of self-examination and screening modalities like ultrasound scan and mammograms but also through their interaction with members of their family and society makes them conscious of the disease and advocating regular check-ups. Benefit is also derived from established women groups and Lady Health workers who are in contact with the population in far-flung areas of the country, in spreading awareness to the grass root level. In collaboration with Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission hospitals, Pink ribbon has launched a free nationwide Breast Cancer screening program and is working on building a dedicated Breast Cancer Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. Realizing the disease burden and the health, social and financial implications of breast cancer it is imperative that Pink Ribbon as a source of Breast Cancer awareness is propagated in the society and an all out moral and material support be extended to the organizations working under this banner.

Mataram Tunggal Garment merupakan perusahaan yang bergerak di bidang tekstil dan produk tekstil yang memproduksi pakaian wanita jadi yang terletak di Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Pada PT. Mataram Tunggal Garment terdapat beberapa bahan baku yang didapat dari supplier salah satunya adalah aksesoris pakaian yang sebagian besar didapatkan dari supplier. Tidak dipungkiri masih banyak produk dari supplier yang mengalami cacat produk terutama pada aksesoris button. Oleh karena itu diperlukan sebuah metode yang tepat untuk mencari akar dari penyebab kecacatan untuk penurunan tingkat kecacatan produk khususnya pada produk button. Metode yang digunakan pada penelitian ini yaitu FMEA dan FTA. FMEA merupakan teknik yang digunakan untuk mendefinisi, mengidentifikasi, dan menghilangkan kegagalan dan masalah pada suatu proses, setelah itu melakukan pembobotan nilai dan pengurutan berdasarkan RPN. Selanjutnya membuat analisis untuk perbaikan dengan menggunakan metode FTA berdasarkan nilai RPN yang tertinggi. Berdasarkan hasil metode FMEA didapatkan hasil RPN tertinggi pada cacat retak/patah dan cacat warna yaitu sebesar 336 dan 240. Berdasarkan hasil analisis menggunakan metode FTA, terdapat 3 basic event yang menyebabkan timbulnya top level event pada cacat warna yaitu, beban kerja yang berlebih, kondisi kesehatan yang menurun, dan suhu tidak optimum untuk bekerja. Sedangkan pada cacat retak/patah terdapat 5 basic event yaitu, tidak mengetahui prosedur kerja, karyawan yang kurang teliti, tidak adanya pengawasan, tidak terdapat SOP, dan tidak adanya pemeriksaan secara berkala. Usulan perbaikan yang dapat diberikan berupa rotasi kerja, penggunaan APD, penyediaan ventilasi udara, perbaikan dan penambahan SOP, pengawasan dan pemeriksaan pada inventory, dan pemberian reward dan punishment kepada pekerja. Kata kunci: Produk Cacat, FMEA, FTA, RPN Mataram Tunggal Garment is a company engaged in textiles products that produces apparel for women, located in Sleman, Yogyakarta. PT. Mataram Tunggal Garment has several raw materials obtained from suppliers, one of which is clothing accessories, which are mostly obtained from suppliers. It is undeniable that there are still many products from suppliers that defects, especially in button accessories. Therefore we need an appropriate method to find the root causes of defects to reduce the level of products defect, especially in button accessories. The methods used in this research are FMEA and FTA. FMEA is a technique used to define, identify, and eliminate failures and problems in a process, after which weighting and sorting are based on RPN. Then make an analysis for improvement using FTA method based on the highest RPN value. Based on the results of the FMEA method, the highest RPN results were obtained for cracks/fractures and color defects, 336 and 240. Based on the results of the analysis using FTA method, there are 3 basic events that cause top level events to color defects, excess workload, decreased health conditions, and not optimum temperature for work. Whereas for cracked/ fracture defects there are 5 basic events, not knowing work procedures, employees who are not careful, there is no supervision, there is no SOP, and there is no periodic inspection. Improvements that can be given are in the form of work rotation, use PPE, provision of air ventilation, improvement an addition SOP, supervision and inspection of inventory, and giving rewards and punishment to workers. Keywords: Product Defects, FMEA, FTA, RPN

Education in Oceania continues to reflect the embedded implicit and explicit colonial practices and processes from the past. This paper conceptualises a cultural approach to education and leadership appropriate and relevant to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. As elementary school leaders, we highlight Kanne Lobal, a traditional Marshallese navigation practice based on indigenous language, values and practices. We conceptualise and develop Kanne Lobal in this paper as a framework for understanding the usefulness of our indigenous knowledge in leadership and educational practices within formal education. Through bwebwenato, a method of talk story, our key learnings and reflexivities were captured. We argue that realising the value of Marshallese indigenous knowledge and practices for school leaders requires purposeful training of the ways in which our knowledge can be made useful in our professional educational responsibilities. Drawing from our Marshallese knowledge is an intentional effort to inspire, empower and express what education and leadership partnership means for Marshallese people, as articulated by Marshallese themselves. Introduction As noted in the call for papers within the Waikato Journal of Education (WJE) for this special issue, bodies of knowledge and histories in Oceania have long sustained generations across geographic boundaries to ensure cultural survival. For Marshallese people, we cannot really know ourselves “until we know how we came to be where we are today” (Walsh, Heine, Bigler & Stege, 2012). Jitdam Kapeel is a popular Marshallese concept and ideal associated with inquiring into relationships within the family and community. In a similar way, the practice of relating is about connecting the present and future to the past. Education and leadership partnerships are linked and we look back to the past, our history, to make sense and feel inspired to transform practices that will benefit our people. In this paper and in light of our next generation, we reconnect with our navigation stories to inspire and empower education and leadership. Kanne lobal is part of our navigation stories, a conceptual framework centred on cultural practices, values, and concepts that embrace collective partnerships. Our link to this talanoa vā with others in the special issue is to attempt to make sense of connections given the global COVID-19 context by providing a Marshallese approach to address the physical and relational “distance” between education and leadership partnerships in Oceania. Like the majority of developing small island nations in Oceania, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has had its share of educational challenges through colonial legacies of the past which continues to drive education systems in the region (Heine, 2002). The historical administration and education in the RMI is one of colonisation. Successive administrations by the Spanish, German, Japanese, and now the US, has resulted in education and learning that privileges western knowledge and forms of learning. This paper foregrounds understandings of education and learning as told by the voices of elementary school leaders from the RMI. The move to re-think education and leadership from Marshallese perspectives is an act of shifting the focus of bwebwenato or conversations that centres on Marshallese language and worldviews. The concept of jelalokjen was conceptualised as traditional education framed mainly within the community context. In the past, jelalokjen was practiced and transmitted to the younger generation for cultural continuity. During the arrival of colonial administrations into the RMI, jelalokjen was likened to the western notions of education and schooling (Kupferman, 2004). Today, the primary function of jelalokjen, as traditional and formal education, it is for “survival in a hostile [and challenging] environment” (Kupferman, 2004, p. 43). Because western approaches to learning in the RMI have not always resulted in positive outcomes for those engaged within the education system, as school leaders who value our cultural knowledge and practices, and aspire to maintain our language with the next generation, we turn to Kanne Lobal, a practice embedded in our navigation stories, collective aspirations, and leadership. The significance in the development of Kanne Lobal, as an appropriate framework for education and leadership, resulted in us coming together and working together. Not only were we able to share our leadership concerns, however, the engagement strengthened our connections with each other as school leaders, our communities, and the Public Schooling System (PSS). Prior to that, many of us were in competition for resources. Educational Leadership: IQBE and GCSL Leadership is a valued practice in the RMI. Before the IQBE programme started in 2018, the majority of the school leaders on the main island of Majuro had not engaged in collaborative partnerships with each other before. Our main educational purpose was to achieve accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), an accreditation commission for schools in the United States. The WASC accreditation dictated our work and relationships and many school leaders on Majuro felt the pressure of competition against each other. We, the authors in this paper, share our collective bwebwenato, highlighting our school leadership experiences and how we gained strength from our own ancestral knowledge to empower “us”, to collaborate with each other, our teachers, communities, as well as with PSS; a collaborative partnership we had not realised in the past. The paucity of literature that captures Kajin Majol (Marshallese language) and education in general in the RMI is what we intend to fill by sharing our reflections and experiences. To move our educational practices forward we highlight Kanne Lobal, a cultural approach that focuses on our strengths, collective social responsibilities and wellbeing. For a long time, there was no formal training in place for elementary school leaders. School principals and vice principals were appointed primarily on their academic merit through having an undergraduate qualification. As part of the first cohort of fifteen school leaders, we engaged in the professional training programme, the Graduate Certificate in School Leadership (GCSL), refitted to our context after its initial development in the Solomon Islands. GCSL was coordinated by the Institute of Education (IOE) at the University of the South Pacific (USP). GCSL was seen as a relevant and appropriate training programme for school leaders in the RMI as part of an Asia Development Bank (ADB) funded programme which aimed at “Improving Quality Basic Education” (IQBE) in parts of the northern Pacific. GCSL was managed on Majuro, RMI’s main island, by the director at the time Dr Irene Taafaki, coordinator Yolanda McKay, and administrators at the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) RMI campus. Through the provision of GCSL, as school leaders we were encouraged to re-think and draw-from our own cultural repository and connect to our ancestral knowledge that have always provided strength for us. This kind of thinking and practice was encouraged by our educational leaders (Heine, 2002). We argue that a culturally-affirming and culturally-contextual framework that reflects the lived experiences of Marshallese people is much needed and enables the disruption of inherent colonial processes left behind by Western and Eastern administrations which have influenced our education system in the RMI (Heine, 2002). Kanne Lobal, an approach utilising a traditional navigation has warranted its need to provide solutions for today’s educational challenges for us in the RMI. Education in the Pacific Education in the Pacific cannot be understood without contextualising it in its history and culture. It is the same for us in the RMI (Heine, 2002; Walsh et al., 2012). The RMI is located in the Pacific Ocean and is part of Micronesia. It was named after a British captain, John Marshall in the 1700s. The atolls in the RMI were explored by the Spanish in the 16th century. Germany unsuccessfully attempted to colonize the islands in 1885. Japan took control in 1914, but after several battles during World War II, the US seized the RMI from them. In 1947, the United Nations made the island group, along with the Mariana and Caroline archipelagos, a U.S. trust territory (Walsh et al, 2012). Education in the RMI reflects the colonial administrations of Germany, Japan, and now the US. Before the turn of the century, formal education in the Pacific reflected western values, practices, and standards. Prior to that, education was informal and not binded to formal learning institutions (Thaman, 1997) and oral traditions was used as the medium for transmitting learning about customs and practices living with parents, grandparents, great grandparents. As alluded to by Jiba B. Kabua (2004), any “discussion about education is necessarily a discussion of culture, and any policy on education is also a policy of culture” (p. 181). It is impossible to promote one without the other, and it is not logical to understand one without the other. Re-thinking how education should look like, the pedagogical strategies that are relevant in our classrooms, the ways to engage with our parents and communities - such re-thinking sits within our cultural approaches and frameworks. Our collective attempts to provide a cultural framework that is relevant and appropriate for education in our context, sits within the political endeavour to decolonize. This means that what we are providing will not only be useful, but it can be used as a tool to question and identify whether things in place restrict and prevent our culture or whether they promote and foreground cultural ideas and concepts, a significant discussion of culture linked to education (Kabua, 2004). Donor funded development aid programmes were provided to support the challenges within education systems. Concerned with the persistent low educational outcomes of Pacific students, despite the prevalence of aid programmes in the region, in 2000 Pacific educators and leaders with support from New Zealand Aid (NZ Aid) decided to intervene (Heine, 2002; Taufe’ulungaki, 2014). In April 2001, a group of Pacific educators and leaders across the region were invited to a colloquium funded by the New Zealand Overseas Development Agency held in Suva Fiji at the University of the South Pacific. The main purpose of the colloquium was to enable “Pacific educators to re-think the values, assumptions and beliefs underlying [formal] schooling in Oceania” (Benson, 2002). Leadership, in general, is a valued practice in the RMI (Heine, 2002). Despite education leadership being identified as a significant factor in school improvement (Sanga & Chu, 2009), the limited formal training opportunities of school principals in the region was a persistent concern. As part of an Asia Development Bank (ADB) funded project, the Improve Quality Basic Education (IQBE) intervention was developed and implemented in the RMI in 2017. Mentoring is a process associated with the continuity and sustainability of leadership knowledge and practices (Sanga & Chu, 2009). It is a key aspect of building capacity and capabilities within human resources in education (ibid). Indigenous knowledges and education research According to Hilda Heine, the relationship between education and leadership is about understanding Marshallese history and culture (cited in Walsh et al., 2012). It is about sharing indigenous knowledge and histories that “details for future generations a story of survival and resilience and the pride we possess as a people” (Heine, cited in Walsh et al., 2012, p. v). This paper is fuelled by postcolonial aspirations yet is grounded in Pacific indigenous research. This means that our intentions are driven by postcolonial pursuits and discourses linked to challenging the colonial systems and schooling in the Pacific region that privileges western knowledge and learning and marginalises the education practices and processes of local people (Thiong’o, 1986). A point of difference and orientation from postcolonialism is a desire to foreground indigenous Pacific language, specifically Majin Majol, through Marshallese concepts. Our collective bwebwenato and conversation honours and values kautiej (respect), jouj eo mour eo (reciprocity), and jouj (kindness) (Taafaki & Fowler, 2019). Pacific leaders developed the Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative for and by Pacific People (RPEIPP) in 2002 to take control of the ways in which education research was conducted by donor funded organisations (Taufe’ulungaki, 2014). Our former president, Dr Hilda Heine was part of the group of leaders who sought to counter the ways in which our educational and leadership stories were controlled and told by non-Marshallese (Heine, 2002). As a former minister of education in the RMI, Hilda Heine continues to inspire and encourage the next generation of educators, school leaders, and researchers to re-think and de-construct the way learning and education is conceptualised for Marshallese people. The conceptualisation of Kanne Lobal acknowledges its origin, grounded in Marshallese navigation knowledge and practice. Our decision to unpack and deconstruct Kanne Lobal within the context of formal education and leadership responds to the need to not only draw from indigenous Marshallese ideas and practice but to consider that the next generation will continue to be educated using western processes and initiatives particularly from the US where we get a lot of our funding from. According to indigenous researchers Dawn Bessarab and Bridget Ng’andu (2010), doing research that considers “culturally appropriate processes to engage with indigenous groups and individuals is particularly pertinent in today’s research environment” (p. 37). Pacific indigenous educators and researchers have turned to their own ancestral knowledge and practices for inspiration and empowerment. Within western research contexts, the often stringent ideals and processes are not always encouraging of indigenous methods and practices. However, many were able to ground and articulate their use of indigenous methods as being relevant and appropriate to capturing the realities of their communities (Nabobo-Baba, 2008; Sualii-Sauni & Fulu-Aiolupotea, 2014; Thaman, 1997). At the same time, utilising Pacific indigenous methods and approaches enabled research engagement with their communities that honoured and respected them and their communities. For example, Tongan, Samoan, and Fijian researchers used the talanoa method as a way to capture the stories, lived realities, and worldviews of their communities within education in the diaspora (Fa’avae, Jones, & Manu’atu, 2016; Nabobo-Baba, 2008; Sualii-Sauni & Aiolupotea, 2014; Vaioleti, 2005). Tok stori was used by Solomon Islander educators and school leaders to highlight the unique circles of conversational practice and storytelling that leads to more positive engagement with their community members, capturing rich and meaningful narratives as a result (Sanga & Houma, 2004). The Indigenous Aborigine in Australia utilise yarning as a “relaxed discussion through which both the researcher and participant journey together visiting places and topics of interest relevant” (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010, p. 38). Despite the diverse forms of discussions and storytelling by indigenous peoples, of significance are the cultural protocols, ethics, and language for conducting and guiding the engagement (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010; Nabobo-Baba, 2008; Sualii-Sauni & Aiolupotea, 2014). Through the ethics, values, protocols, and language, these are what makes indigenous methods or frameworks unique compared to western methods like in-depth interviews or semi-structured interviews. This is why it is important for us as Marshallese educators to frame, ground, and articulate how our own methods and frameworks of learning could be realised in western education (Heine, 2002; Jetnil-Kijiner, 2014). In this paper, we utilise bwebwenato as an appropriate method linked to “talk story”, capturing our collective stories and experiences during GCSL and how we sought to build partnerships and collaboration with each other, our communities, and the PSS. Bwebwenato and drawing from Kajin Majel Legends and stories that reflect Marshallese society and its cultural values have survived through our oral traditions. The practice of weaving also holds knowledge about our “valuable and earliest sources of knowledge” (Taafaki & Fowler, 2019, p. 2). The skilful navigation of Marshallese wayfarers on the walap (large canoes) in the ocean is testament of their leadership and the value they place on ensuring the survival and continuity of Marshallese people (Taafaki & Fowler, 2019; Walsh et al., 2012). During her graduate study in 2014, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner conceptualised bwebwenato as being the most “well-known form of Marshallese orality” (p. 38). The Marshallese-English dictionary defined bwebwenato as talk, conversation, story, history, article, episode, lore, myth, or tale (cited in Jetnil Kijiner, 2014). Three years later in 2017, bwebwenato was utilised in a doctoral project by Natalie Nimmer as a research method to gather “talk stories” about the experiences of 10 Marshallese experts in knowledge and skills ranging from sewing to linguistics, canoe-making and business. Our collective bwebwenato in this paper centres on Marshallese ideas and language. The philosophy of Marshallese knowledge is rooted in our “Kajin Majel”, or Marshallese language and is shared and transmitted through our oral traditions. For instance, through our historical stories and myths. Marshallese philosophy, that is, the knowledge systems inherent in our beliefs, values, customs, and practices are shared. They are inherently relational, meaning that knowledge systems and philosophies within our world are connected, in mind, body, and spirit (Jetnil-Kijiner, 2014; Nimmer, 2017). Although some Marshallese believe that our knowledge is disappearing as more and more elders pass away, it is therefore important work together, and learn from each other about the knowledges shared not only by the living but through their lamentations and stories of those who are no longer with us (Jetnil-Kijiner, 2014). As a Marshallese practice, weaving has been passed-down from generation to generation. Although the art of weaving is no longer as common as it used to be, the artefacts such as the “jaki-ed” (clothing mats) continue to embody significant Marshallese values and traditions. For our weavers, the jouj (check spelling) is the centre of the mat and it is where the weaving starts. When the jouj is correct and weaved well, the remainder and every other part of the mat will be right. The jouj is symbolic of the “heart” and if the heart is prepared well, trained well, then life or all other parts of the body will be well (Taafaki & Fowler, 2019). In that light, we have applied the same to this paper. Conceptualising and drawing from cultural practices that are close and dear to our hearts embodies a significant ontological attempt to prioritize our own knowledge and language, a sense of endearment to who we are and what we believe education to be like for us and the next generation. The application of the phrase “Majolizing '' was used by the Ministry of Education when Hilda Heine was minister, to weave cultural ideas and language into the way that teachers understand the curriculum, develop lesson plans and execute them in the classroom. Despite this, there were still concerns with the embedded colonized practices where teachers defaulted to eurocentric methods of doing things, like the strategies provided in the textbooks given to us. In some ways, our education was slow to adjust to the “Majolizing '' intention by our former minister. In this paper, we provide Kanne Lobal as a way to contribute to the “Majolizing intention” and perhaps speed up yet still be collectively responsible to all involved in education. Kajin Wa and Kanne Lobal “Wa” is the Marshallese concept for canoe. Kajin wa, as in canoe language, has a lot of symbolic meaning linked to deeply-held Marshallese values and practices. The canoe was the foundational practice that supported the livelihood of harsh atoll island living which reflects the Marshallese social world. The experts of Kajin wa often refer to “wa” as being the vessel of life, a means and source of sustaining life (Kelen, 2009, cited in Miller, 2010). “Jouj” means kindness and is the lower part of the main hull of the canoe. It is often referred to by some canoe builders in the RMI as the heart of the canoe and is linked to love. The jouj is one of the first parts of the canoe that is built and is “used to do all other measurements, and then the rest of the canoe is built on top of it” (Miller, 2010, p. 67). The significance of the jouj is that when the canoe is in the water, the jouj is the part of the hull that is underwater and ensures that all the cargo and passengers are safe. For Marshallese, jouj or kindness is what living is about and is associated with selflessly carrying the responsibility of keeping the family and community safe. The parts of the canoe reflect Marshallese culture, legend, family, lineage, and kinship. They embody social responsibilities that guide, direct, and sustain Marshallese families’ wellbeing, from atoll to atoll. For example, the rojak (boom), rojak maan (upper boom), rojak kōrā (lower boom), and they support the edges of the ujelā/ujele (sail) (see figure 1). The literal meaning of rojak maan is male boom and rojak kōrā means female boom which together strengthens the sail and ensures the canoe propels forward in a strong yet safe way. Figuratively, the rojak maan and rojak kōrā symbolise the mother and father relationship which when strong, through the jouj (kindness and love), it can strengthen families and sustain them into the future. Figure 1. Parts of the canoe Source: https://www.canoesmarshallislands.com/2014/09/names-of-canoe-parts/ From a socio-cultural, communal, and leadership view, the canoe (wa) provides understanding of the relationships required to inspire and sustain Marshallese peoples’ education and learning. We draw from Kajin wa because they provide cultural ideas and practices that enable understanding of education and leadership necessary for sustaining Marshallese people and realities in Oceania. When building a canoe, the women are tasked with the weaving of the ujelā/ujele (sail) and to ensure that it is strong enough to withstand long journeys and the fierce winds and waters of the ocean. The Kanne Lobal relates to the front part of the ujelā/ujele (sail) where the rojak maan and rojak kōrā meet and connect (see the red lines in figure 1). Kanne Lobal is linked to the strategic use of the ujelā/ujele by navigators, when there is no wind north wind to propel them forward, to find ways to capture the winds so that their journey can continue. As a proverbial saying, Kanne Lobal is used to ignite thinking and inspire and transform practice particularly when the journey is rough and tough. In this paper we draw from Kanne Lobal to ignite, inspire, and transform our educational and leadership practices, a move to explore what has always been meaningful to Marshallese people when we are faced with challenges. The Kanne Lobal utilises our language, and cultural practices and values by sourcing from the concepts of jouj (kindness, love), kautiej (respect), and jouj eo mour eo (reciprocity). A key Marshallese proverb, “Enra bwe jen lale rara”, is the cultural practice where families enact compassion through the sharing of food in all occurrences. The term “enra” is a small basket weaved from the coconut leaves, and often used by Marshallese as a plate to share and distribute food amongst each other. Bwe-jen-lale-rara is about noticing and providing for the needs of others, and “enra” the basket will help support and provide for all that are in need. “Enra-bwe-jen-lale-rara” is symbolic of cultural exchange and reciprocity and the cultural values associated with building and maintaining relationships, and constantly honouring each other. As a Marshallese practice, in this article we share our understanding and knowledge about the challenges as well as possible solutions for education concerns in our nation. In addition, we highlight another proverb, “wa kuk wa jimor”, which relates to having one canoe, and despite its capacity to feed and provide for the individual, but within the canoe all people can benefit from what it can provide. In the same way, we provide in this paper a cultural framework that will enable all educators to benefit from. It is a framework that is far-reaching and relevant to the lived realities of Marshallese people today. Kumit relates to people united to build strength, all co-operating and working together, living in peace, harmony, and good health. Kanne Lobal: conceptual framework for education and leadership An education framework is a conceptual structure that can be used to capture ideas and thinking related to aspects of learning. Kanne Lobal is conceptualised and framed in this paper as an educational framework. Kanne Lobal highlights the significance of education as a collective partnership whereby leadership is an important aspect. Kanne Lobal draws-from indigenous Marshallese concepts like kautiej (respect), jouj eo mour eo (reciprocity), and jouj (kindness, heart). The role of a leader, including an education leader, is to prioritise collective learning and partnerships that benefits Marshallese people and the continuity and survival of the next generation (Heine, 2002; Thaman, 1995). As described by Ejnar Aerōk, an expert canoe builder in the RMI, he stated: “jerbal ippān doon bwe en maron maan wa e” (cited in Miller, 2010, p. 69). His description emphasises the significance of partnerships and working together when navigating and journeying together in order to move the canoe forward. The kubaak, the outrigger of the wa (canoe) is about “partnerships”. For us as elementary school leaders on Majuro, kubaak encourages us to value collaborative partnerships with each other as well as our communities, PSS, and other stakeholders. Partnerships is an important part of the Kanne Lobal education and leadership framework. It requires ongoing bwebwenato – the inspiring as well as confronting and challenging conversations that should be mediated and negotiated if we and our education stakeholders are to journey together to ensure that the educational services we provide benefits our next generation of young people in the RMI. Navigating ahead the partnerships, mediation, and negotiation are the core values of jouj (kindness, love), kautiej (respect), and jouj eo mour eo (reciprocity). As an organic conceptual framework grounded in indigenous values, inspired through our lived experiences, Kanne Lobal provides ideas and concepts for re-thinking education and leadership practices that are conducive to learning and teaching in the schooling context in the RMI. By no means does it provide the solution to the education ills in our nation. However, we argue that Kanne Lobal is a more relevant approach which is much needed for the negatively stigmatised system as a consequence of the various colonial administrations that have and continue to shape and reframe our ideas about what education should be like for us in the RMI. Moreover, Kannel Lobal is our attempt to decolonize the framing of education and leadership, moving our bwebwenato to re-framing conversations of teaching and learning so that our cultural knowledge and values are foregrounded, appreciated, and realised within our education system. Bwebwenato: sharing our stories In this section, we use bwebwenato as a method of gathering and capturing our stories as data. Below we capture our stories and ongoing conversations about the richness in Marshallese cultural knowledge in the outer islands and on Majuro and the potentialities in Kanne Lobal. Danny Jim When I was in third grade (9-10 years of age), during my grandfather’s speech in Arno, an atoll near Majuro, during a time when a wa (canoe) was being blessed and ready to put the canoe into the ocean. My grandfather told me the canoe was a blessing for the family. “Without a canoe, a family cannot provide for them”, he said. The canoe allows for travelling between places to gather food and other sources to provide for the family. My grandfather’s stories about people’s roles within the canoe reminded me that everyone within the family has a responsibility to each other. Our women, mothers and daughters too have a significant responsibility in the journey, in fact, they hold us, care for us, and given strength to their husbands, brothers, and sons. The wise man or elder sits in the middle of the canoe, directing the young man who help to steer. The young man, he does all the work, directed by the older man. They take advice and seek the wisdom of the elder. In front of the canoe, a young boy is placed there and because of his strong and youthful vision, he is able to help the elder as well as the young man on the canoe. The story can be linked to the roles that school leaders, teachers, and students have in schooling. Without each person knowing intricately their role and responsibility, the sight and vision ahead for the collective aspirations of the school and the community is difficult to comprehend. For me, the canoe is symbolic of our educational journey within our education system. As the school leader, a central, trusted, and respected figure in the school, they provide support for teachers who are at the helm, pedagogically striving to provide for their students. For without strong direction from the school leaders and teachers at the helm, the students, like the young boy, cannot foresee their futures, or envisage how education can benefit them. This is why Kanne Lobal is a significant framework for us in the Marshall Islands because within the practice we are able to take heed and empower each other so that all benefit from the process. Kanne Lobal is linked to our culture, an essential part of who we are. We must rely on our own local approaches, rather than relying on others that are not relevant to what we know and how we live in today’s society. One of the things I can tell is that in Majuro, compared to the outer islands, it’s different. In the outer islands, parents bring children together and tell them legends and stories. The elders tell them about the legends and stories – the bwebwenato. Children from outer islands know a lot more about Marshallese legends compared to children from the Majuro atoll. They usually stay close to their parents, observe how to prepare food and all types of Marshallese skills. Loretta Joseph Case There is little Western influence in the outer islands. They grow up learning their own culture with their parents, not having tv. They are closely knit, making their own food, learning to weave. They use fire for cooking food. They are more connected because there are few of them, doing their own culture. For example, if they’re building a house, the ladies will come together and make food to take to the males that are building the house, encouraging them to keep on working - “jemjem maal” (sharpening tools i.e. axe, like encouraging workers to empower them). It’s when they bring food and entertainment. Rubon Rubon Togetherness, work together, sharing of food, these are important practices as a school leader. Jemjem maal – the whole village works together, men working and the women encourage them with food and entertainment. All the young children are involved in all of the cultural practices, cultural transmission is consistently part of their everyday life. These are stronger in the outer islands. Kanne Lobal has the potential to provide solutions using our own knowledge and practices. Connie Joel When new teachers become a teacher, they learn more about their culture in teaching. Teaching raises the question, who are we? A popular saying amongst our people, “Aelon kein ad ej aelon in manit”, means that “Our islands are cultural islands”. Therefore, when we are teaching, and managing the school, we must do this culturally. When we live and breathe, we must do this culturally. There is more socialising with family and extended family. Respect the elderly. When they’re doing things the ladies all get together, in groups and do it. Cut the breadfruit, and preserve the breadfruit and pandanus. They come together and do it. Same as fishing, building houses, building canoes. They use and speak the language often spoken by the older people. There are words that people in the outer islands use and understand language regularly applied by the elderly. Respect elderly and leaders more i.e., chiefs (iroj), commoners (alap), and the workers on the land (ri-jerbal) (social layer under the commoners). All the kids, they gather with their families, and go and visit the chiefs and alap, and take gifts from their land, first produce/food from the plantation (eojōk). Tommy Almet The people are more connected to the culture in the outer islands because they help one another. They don’t have to always buy things by themselves, everyone contributes to the occasion. For instance, for birthdays, boys go fishing, others contribute and all share with everyone. Kanne Lobal is a practice that can bring people together – leaders, teachers, stakeholders. We want our colleagues to keep strong and work together to fix problems like students and teachers’ absenteeism which is a big problem for us in schools. Demetria Malachi The culture in the outer islands are more accessible and exposed to children. In Majuro, there is a mixedness of cultures and knowledges, influenced by Western thinking and practices. Kanne Lobal is an idea that can enhance quality educational purposes for the RMI. We, the school leaders who did GCSL, we want to merge and use this idea because it will help benefit students’ learning and teachers’ teaching. Kanne Lobal will help students to learn and teachers to teach though traditional skills and knowledge. We want to revitalize our ways of life through teaching because it is slowly fading away. Also, we want to have our own Marshallese learning process because it is in our own language making it easier to use and understand. Essentially, we want to proudly use our own ways of teaching from our ancestors showing the appreciation and blessings given to us. Way Forward To think of ways forward is about reflecting on the past and current learnings. Instead of a traditional discussion within a research publication, we have opted to continue our bwebwenato by sharing what we have learnt through the Graduate Certificate in School Leadership (GCSL) programme. Our bwebwenato does not end in this article and this opportunity to collaborate and partner together in this piece of writing has been a meaningful experience to conceptualise and unpack the Kanne Lobal framework. Our collaborative bwebwenato has enabled us to dig deep into our own wise knowledges for guidance through mediating and negotiating the challenges in education and leadership (Sanga & Houma, 2004). For example, bwe-jen-lale-rara reminds us to inquire, pay attention, and focus on supporting the needs of others. Through enra-bwe-jen-lale-rara, it reminds us to value cultural exchange and reciprocity which will strengthen the development and maintaining of relationships based on ways we continue to honour each other (Nimmer, 2017). We not only continue to support each other, but also help mentor the next generation of school leaders within our education system (Heine, 2002). Education and leadership are all about collaborative partnerships (Sanga & Chu, 2009; Thaman, 1997). Developing partnerships through the GCSL was useful learning for us. It encouraged us to work together, share knowledge, respect each other, and be kind. The values of jouj (kindness, love), kautiej (respect), and jouj eo mour eo (reciprocity) are meaningful in being and becoming and educational leader in the RMI (Jetnil-Kijiner, 2014; Miller, 2010; Nimmer, 2017). These values are meaningful for us practice particularly given the drive by PSS for schools to become accredited. The workshops and meetings delivered during the GCSL in the RMI from 2018 to 2019 about Kanne Lobal has given us strength to share our stories and experiences from the meeting with the stakeholders. But before we met with the stakeholders, we were encouraged to share and speak in our language within our courses: EDP05 (Professional Development and Learning), EDP06 (School Leadership), EDP07 (School Management), EDP08 (Teaching and Learning), and EDP09 (Community Partnerships). In groups, we shared our presentations with our peers, the 15 school leaders in the GCSL programme. We also invited USP RMI staff. They liked the way we presented Kannel Lobal. They provided us with feedback, for example: how the use of the sail on the canoe, the parts and their functions can be conceptualised in education and how they are related to the way that we teach our own young people. Engaging stakeholders in the conceptualisation and design stages of Kanne Lobal strengthened our understanding of leadership and collaborative partnerships. Based on various meetings with the RMI Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) team, PSS general assembly, teachers from the outer islands, and the PSS executive committee, we were able to share and receive feedback on the Kanne Lobal framework. The coordinators of the PREL programme in the RMI were excited by the possibilities around using Kanne Lobal, as a way to teach culture in an inspirational way to Marshallese students. Our Marshallese knowledge, particularly through the proverbial meaning of Kanne Lobal provided so much inspiration and insight for the groups during the presentation which gave us hope and confidence to develop the framework. Kanne Lobal is an organic and indigenous approach, grounded in Marshallese ways of doing things (Heine, 2002; Taafaki & Fowler, 2019). Given the persistent presence of colonial processes within the education system and the constant reference to practices and initiatives from the US, Kanne Lobal for us provides a refreshing yet fulfilling experience and makes us feel warm inside because it is something that belongs to all Marshallese people. Conclusion Marshallese indigenous knowledge and practices provide meaningful educational and leadership understanding and learnings. They ignite, inspire, and transform thinking and practice. The Kanne Lobal conceptual framework emphasises key concepts and values necessary for collaborative partnerships within education and leadership practices in the RMI. The bwebwenato or talk stories have been insightful and have highlighted the strengths and benefits that our Marshallese ideas and practices possess when looking for appropriate and relevant ways to understand education and leadership. Acknowledgements We want to acknowledge our GCSL cohort of school leaders who have supported us in the development of Kanne Lobal as a conceptual framework. A huge kommol tata to our friends: Joana, Rosana, Loretta, Jellan, Alvin, Ellice, Rolando, Stephen, and Alan. References Benson, C. (2002). Preface. In F. Pene, A. M. Taufe’ulungaki, & C. Benson (Eds.), Tree of Opportunity: re-thinking Pacific Education (p. iv). Suva, Fiji: University of the South Pacific, Institute of Education. Bessarab, D., Ng’andu, B. (2010). Yarning about yarning as a legitimate method in indigenous research. International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 3(1), 37-50. Fa’avae, D., Jones, A., & Manu’atu, L. (2016). Talanoa’i ‘a e talanoa - talking about talanoa: Some dilemmas of a novice researcher. AlterNative: An Indigenous Journal of Indigenous Peoples,12(2),138-150. Heine, H. C. (2002). A Marshall Islands perspective. In F. Pene, A. M. Taufe’ulungaki, & C. Benson (Eds.), Tree of Opportunity: re-thinking Pacific Education (pp. 84 – 90). Suva, Fiji: University of the South Pacific, Institute of Education. Infoplease Staff (2017, February 28). Marshall Islands, retrieved from https://www.infoplease.com/world/countries/marshall-islands Jetnil-Kijiner, K. (2014). Iep Jaltok: A history of Marshallese literature. (Unpublished masters’ thesis). Honolulu, HW: University of Hawaii. Kabua, J. B. (2004). We are the land, the land is us: The moral responsibility of our education and sustainability. In A.L. Loeak, V.C. Kiluwe and L. Crowl (Eds.), Life in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, pp. 180 – 191. Suva, Fiji: University of the South Pacific. Kupferman, D. (2004). Jelalokjen in flux: Pitfalls and prospects of contextualising teacher training programmes in the Marshall Islands. Directions: Journal of Educational Studies, 26(1), 42 – 54. http://directions.usp.ac.fj/collect/direct/index/assoc/D1175062.dir/doc.pdf Miller, R. L. (2010). Wa kuk wa jimor: Outrigger canoes, social change, and modern life in the Marshall Islands (Unpublished masters’ thesis). Honolulu, HW: University of Hawaii. Nabobo-Baba, U. (2008). Decolonising framings in Pacific research: Indigenous Fijian vanua research framework as an organic response. AlterNative: An Indigenous Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 4(2), 141-154. Nimmer, N. E. (2017). Documenting a Marshallese indigenous learning framework (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Honolulu, HW: University of Hawaii. Sanga, K., & Houma, S. (2004). Solomon Islands principalship: Roles perceived, performed, preferred, and expected. Directions: Journal of Educational Studies, 26(1), 55-69. Sanga, K., & Chu, C. (2009). Introduction. In K. Sanga & C. Chu (Eds.), Living and Leaving a Legacy of Hope: Stories by New Generation Pacific Leaders (pp. 10-12). NZ: He Parekereke & Victoria University of Wellington. Suaalii-Sauni, T., & Fulu-Aiolupotea, S. M. (2014). Decolonising Pacific research, building Pacific research communities, and developing Pacific research tools: The case of the talanoa and the faafaletui in Samoa. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 55(3), 331-344. Taafaki, I., & Fowler, M. K. (2019). Clothing mats of the Marshall Islands: The history, the culture, and the weavers. US: Kindle Direct. Taufe’ulungaki, A. M. (2014). Look back to look forward: A reflective Pacific journey. In M. ‘Otunuku, U. Nabobo-Baba, S. Johansson Fua (Eds.), Of Waves, Winds, and Wonderful Things: A Decade of Rethinking Pacific Education (pp. 1-15). Fiji: USP Press. Thaman, K. H. (1995). Concepts of learning, knowledge and wisdom in Tonga, and their relevance to modern education. Prospects, 25(4), 723-733. Thaman, K. H. (1997). Reclaiming a place: Towards a Pacific concept of education for cultural development. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 106(2), 119-130. Thiong’o, N. W. (1986). Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. 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Neoliberal restructuring and the feminization of export-led industries are often associated with the disempowerment of women in the workplace. Surprisingly, this disempowerment was not the case with a public textile company in Mahalla, an industrial city north of Cairo. Between 2006 and 2008, workers organized wildcat strikes involving around 24,000 workers. In contrast to the strike waves of the 1980s, women were integral to organizing the strikes and assumed leadership roles in them. This article argues that even as Egypt adopted structural adjustments in the 1990s that led to the decline of the historically leading sectors of textiles and yarn, exports of clothing increased. By the 2000s, the clothing sector was completely feminized and women in Mahalla were positioned in the most productive departments. This change empowered women by elevating their role and induced skeptical male colleagues to support women’s activism in the company and to build cross-gender solidarity.

Purpose: Uncorrected presbyopia (near vision impairment) is prevalent in approximately 517 million people worldwide; this prevalence ranges from 30% to 80% in Africa. Good near vision is needed for a range of tasks; therefore, uncorrected presbyopia can negatively affect the quality of life of individuals, impact families and society, and potentially have negative implications on employment and labour work productivity. This study aimed to determine the impact of near vision correction on the work productivity of clothing factory workers.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and sampled all workers who were aged 40 years and older and who performed near vision tasks (e.g. machinist, cutter, zip sewer, clothing pressers and quality controllers) in seven clothing factories. We included workers who were employed for at least 3 months and whose uncorrected near visual acuity could be improved and corrected to better than 6/9 with spectacle correction. Workers were provided with near vision spectacles, and changes in their work productivity were evaluated after 6 months, using the factories’ output records as an indicator for measurement.Results: The final sample comprised 268 individuals, with 56% of African origin (n = 151) and 49% (n = 115) Indian origin. There were mainly females (94%) in the sample, and the average age was 48 years (± 5.5 years, range 40–62 years). The overall post-correction mean production score (70.5 [SD ± 19.9]) was significantly higher than the overall pre-correction mean production score (67.0 [SD ±20.3]) (p < 0.001). The average change in production score was 3.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.7–4.3), and the percent difference was 6.4% (95% CI 5.2–7.7). The increase in work productivity was significant for individuals of African (p < 0.001) and Indian origins (p < 0.001) but not for those of mixed race (p = 0.364; n = 2). Post-correction, the production scores of women increased significantly by 6.6% (95% CI 5.3–7.9) (p < 0.001). Significant increases in production scores were recorded for machinists, clothing pressers and quality controllers.Conclusion: Significant changes in work productivity among the workers with presbyopic correction were recorded. The clothing industry served as a favourable setting to examine changes in work productivity, obtaining reliable scores of output. This study was used as an exploratory investigation, and the results will be used to inform a randomised-controlled study that will provide stronger validation for the hypothesis that near vision correction impacts work productivity

This article provides a focused review of the history of seasonal and “foreign” farm labour migration in Canada, and in particular the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). It underscores how Mexican migrant workers in particular have been portrayed in Canadian narrative discourses, drawn primarily from political and journalistic sources in Canada in the postwar period. Extended to Mexico in 1974, the SAWP has a longer history of managed agricultural migration in Canada that is also introduced. The article discusses leitmotifs linked to the history of temporary migration between Mexico and Canada: the fundamental place of family and gender relations; the trope of the male migrant as “breadwinner” (despite the later emergence of women migrants in the program); Mexican officials based in Canada and their role in mitigating labour disputes and unionization efforts among the seasonal migrant class in Canada; and the subjective, “subaltern” stories of migrant workers uncovered through an oral history case study carried out in British Columbia and Manitoba from 2012–2015. It introduces other thematic problems including exclusion/invisibility, human rights, patterns of remuneration, and “complementarity” in farm work, in a context of prior reliance upon the managed internal migration of First Nations’ harvest workers in both Ontario’s and Manitoba’s agricultural sectors.

Pesticides are widely used to protect pests in agricultural production and in homes. Women, like men, are heavily involved in Nigerian Agriculture. Since pesticides are essentially poison meant to kill or ward off unwanted living organisms, it is not surprising that they could produce adverse health impacts in people. The pesticides identified as potential breast cancer risk factors discussed in this study are DDT, Lindane, Formaldehyde, Naphthalene/ Mothballs, 2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate/Aluminium phosphate, Calcium carbide and Diphenylamine. DDT continues to be used against vectors of malaria parasites. Lindane is used by agricultural workers, sprayed in homes by pesticide applicators, used for treating head lice or scabies as shampoos and lotions, and transferred to household members by clothing of workers who are occupationally exposed to Lindane. Formaldehyde is largely released into the air by cosmetics/nail polish, detergents, household furniture, from control of fish parasites and preservation of frozen fish and poultry. The main source of naphthalene is from mothballs sometimes used when storing clothing against moths like Tineola bisselliella. Mothballs are also used as a recreational drug – “Bagging” (sniffing mothballs fumes) particularly among adolescent girls. Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate/Aluminium phosphate are used to protect beans from weevils. Calcium carbide is used as a ripening agent, and Dipheylamine is used as a coating agent on fruit and vegetables to preserve moisture. These chemicals are among the pesticides banned/restricted under the auspices of UNEP but continued to be used in Nigeria because they are cheap. Recommendations are proffered on how to rid pesticides from food.

Purpose In certain industrial operations, workers are required to stand for a prolonged duration. This leads to muscular fatigue in the legs, posing a threat to the productivity and well-being of the workers. This paper aims to address this problem of women in the clothing industry with an exoskeleton designed for lower extremities and improve productivity. Design/methodology/approach Ulrich’s product design approach has been followed with suitable modifications. The methodology involves a study to justify the need for this product and terminating at the physical and virtual evaluations of the product. Required anthropometric parameters are considered along the design process. Findings The exoskeleton discussed in this paper is an innovative product made of Aluminium 6061 alloy. During the simulation phase of the product, total von-mises stresses to a part bearing 1 leg were 31.5 MPa, 94.7 MPa and 284 MPa for aluminium, SS308 and springs, respectively. These values are below the yield limit by a great margin. Based on a user survey of this product, 72% of the targeted customers were interested in buying. Also, comparing electromyography (EMG) mean value of the voltage between workers’ leg with and without exoskeleton revealed that there was an improvement in the voltage by 2.5% when exoskeleton was used. Originality/value This paper emphasizes, for the first time – the necessity of an exoskeleton indigenized for the Indian population and the process of realizing it by designing an exoskeleton.

Abstract Background Textile and garment factories are growing in low and middle-income countries as worldwide demand for inexpensive clothing increases each year. These integrated textile and garment production factories are often built-in areas with few workplaces and environmental regulations, and employees can be regularly exposed to workplace hazards with little regulatory oversight. Consequently, workers’ health may be significantly affected due to long term exposure to hazards. This study describes registered health problems and their association to work-related and personal factors among workers in integrated textile factories in Ethiopia. Methods Institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed for this analysis. A one-year recording of worker’s clinical diagnoses (between March 2016 and February 2017) was gathered from the factory clinics of three integrated textile factories. Clinical diagnosis data was obtained as factory workers visited the clinics if feeling unwell. Sociodemographic characteristics and work-related information were obtained from the factory’s human resource departments. The sociodemographic and clinical diagnosis statuses of 7992 workers were analyzed. The association between the registered diagnoses and workplace factors (work in textile production, garment production and support process) and personal factors (age, sex and educational status) were studied using logistic regression analysis. Results The average employee age and years of service were 40 years and 11 years respectively. 60% of workers were females, comprising of 4778 women. 66% of all workers (5276) had 27,320 clinical diagnoses. In total, this caused 16,993 absent working days due to sick leave. Respiratory diseases (34%) and musculoskeletal disorders (29%) were the most prevalent diagnoses, while bodily injuries were the cause of most work absences. Work department, sex and educational status are variables that were most significantly associated with higher prevalence of disease groups. Conclusions About two-thirds of the integrated textile factory workers were diagnosed with different types of disease. The textile and garment production department workers were affected at a greater rate than the support process workers, indicating that some diseases may be related to workplace exposure. Further study should investigate rare chronic diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, renal diseases and diabetes.