Primary Sources by Region:

South/Southeast Asia

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These photographs were taken on April 5, 1975 on one of the Pan Am passenger planes that airlifted Vietnamese orphans and Amerasian children of American servicemen and Vietnamese women for Operation Babylift. In the final weeks before the fall of… [more]

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According to Vedic philosophy, the life span of each person is divided into four stages, or ashrams. The word ashram means "shelter," referring to the protective nature of these phases against the turmoil of life. These stages are Brahmacharya,… [more]

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This photograph, dated 1880, shows Chinese children in a procession in the Tjap Go Meh Festival in Makassar, the largest city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Tjap Go Meh is a Chinese festival that takes place 15 days after the Chinese New Year… [more]

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These two terracotta heads of smiling children stem from excavations at Bulandi Bagh in Patna, India. The molded figures, about 10 cm. (4 in.) high, are rare and significant, both because of their naturalistic facial expressions and technical… [more]

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The monkey figurine shown in two views is mounted on a wooden platform for display, but it was apparently designed with the ability to slide down a string or thin rod so as to appear to climb or jump. The figurine is hand-modeled from terracotta and… [more]

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These photographs are among a series of fifteen taken in 1945 by U.S. soldier Glenn S. Hensley. Hensley was a professional photographer participating in aerial surveillance of Burma for the U.S. Army. The images illustrate an encounter between… [more]

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The photographs depict a Hindu cremation site, or burning ghat, in the city of Calcutta in 1944. The first photo shows the men of the family, including the deceased's sons, seated in front of the corpse, which lies shrouded and bedecked with flowers… [more]

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The definition of an orphan for statistical purposes is a child under 18 years old who has lost one or both parents. A single orphan is a child who has lost one parent, a double orphan is a child who lost both parents. A maternal orphan is a child… [more]

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The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals related to poverty, education, gender equality, health, environmental sustainability and development set in the year 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit, and adopted by 189 nations. The eight MDGs… [more]

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The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals related to poverty, education, gender equality, health, environmental sustainability and development set in the year 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit, and adopted by 189 nations. The eight MDGs… [more]