Ticket for Life would take three phases to complete. Phase 1 is a 3-day workshop for Scout leaders, which was recently organized in Manila, Philippines on 4-6 December. Phase II is to establish open Scout groups for street children in the pilot countries, and the last phase will evaluate the concepts and methods undertaken during the 6-month period. After all the phases, it is targeted that around 5000 street children in all the countries have been educated and socialized through Scouting.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) reports that half of the world’s population lives in the Asia-Pacific Region; 30% of them live in poverty, and 40% are children and young people (ADB 2001). This ADB study defines the problems faced by street children that include homelessness, exploitation, worst forms of labor, abuse, health difficulties, coercion and control by adult gangs, conflict with the law, lack of education, and lack of identification papers.

At the Manila workshop, six countries were represented – Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka – where pilot projects for a Scout troop will be established from January to June 2007. Each country representative prepared a work plan for the next six months stating their objectives, activities and costs involved.

Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) hosted the workshop at its NHQ building in Manila. The international training team includes Peter Blatch, Chairman of APR Adult Resources Sub-Committee; Anne Whiteford, Executive Director of World Scout Bureau; and Peter Nwema, Director of Program Development of Kenya Scouts. Regional Director Abdullah Rasheed and Syd Castillo of WSB APR office coordinated the workshop, with BSP Assistant Secretary General Ernesto Baluyot as workshop director.

Supporters for the first two phases of this project are Asia Pacific Regional Scout Foundation, the Scout Association of Hong Kong, Robert Hall Foundation, and The General Association of Scouts of China. UBS Optimus Foundation has shown great interest to support the third phase.