People with learning difficulties are taught new skills

Lahore - May 4, 2008 1. Wide shot farm exterior 2. Close up Roshni Association sign 3. Wide shot students at work in organic bakery 4. Close up student's hands chopping 5. Close up student's face 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tariq Mirza, parent of student Vassay Mirza who attends Roshni Association "One of the good, important benefits is that this is the only institution which is for adult handicapped people. Other places are more like just day care centres. Over here they try to teach them a profession so that they can become somehow useful members of society." 7. Mid shot of farmers weeding 8. Close up of farmer's hands 9. Wide shot of chicken coop 10. Various of chicken roaming, rooster crowing 11. Wide shot of students chopping grass with teacher 12. Mid shot of student and teacher piling grass into container 13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ali Adnan Chaudhry, Psychologist, Roshni Association. "We have all kinds of mental disorders like pervasive developmental disorder, autism, aspergers, schizophrenia, brain damage. A lot can be done with them: agrotherapy is done, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is done; they are taught social skills and anything that suits them. Management plans are made to make them more adaptable to the society." 14. Mid shot of student crushing garlic with teacher 15. Close up of student's face 16. Close up of student's hands 17. Wide shot of Roshni Association President Shahida Perveen interacting with student 18. Mid shot of Roshni Association President Shahida Perveen entering office 19. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Shahida Perveen Hannessen, President, Roshni Association. "The Roshni Association has been up and running in practical terms for seven years here in Lahore but its been a long journey. I had planned for a number of years to create a project combining education and work with special persons and that's why I returned here to my country and started working here." 20. Cutaway of hands 21. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Shahida Perveen Hannessen, President, Roshni Association. "We work for special persons here at the Roshni Association - although of course you can say that we are all special persons - but these special persons who have different needs, we work to provide a space for them in society so that society recognises them. We provide them with practical skills for example woodwork workshops, textiles workshops, organic baking and organic farming. We do environmental work and you could say that we not only work for special persons, but we work with special persons for wider society. " 22. Mid shot of shopkeeper stacking Roshni products on shelves 23.Close up of shopkeeper's hands 24. Pan shot of organic produce 25. Close up of organic goods 26. Pan shot of organic produce on shelves 27. Close up of organic goods 28. Pan of organic cakes 29. Wide shot shopkeeper stacking shelves. LEAD IN: A small farm in Lahore, Pakistan, is providing a unique type of therapy to young adults with learning disabilities. The Roshni Association combines environmentally friendly farming, with teaching essential skills to those with disabilities in order to produce organic food for commercial sale. STORYLINE: Dozens of young people with mental disabilities are being taught farming and cooking skills at a farm near the Pakistani city of Lahore. From the outside it looks like any of the millions of farms across rural Pakistan, but the Roshni Association is a therapy centre and organic farm designed to help people with learning difficulties or mental disabilities. As a developing country struggling to maintain political stability and growth as a state, Pakistan has yet to build an adequate free health system for its 190 million strong population. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/18534a14a4546ee2c60610d2af206523 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork