Learning in a Right-Handed World with Vicky Ortega

Our first workshop last April 6, 2019, with Ms. Vicky Ortega were filled with left-handed people. The youngest we had are a group of 14 years old who are part of a band club in high school in Manila. It was the first time we saw a considerable number of left-handed people in the same room, even if there are only about 15 of us.

Vicky Ortega talked about how 10% of the world is left-handed. Those number never goes up or dip in numbers. It’s always constant, but no one seems to know or if there is a scientific basis on how someone is born right-handed or left-handed. She also talks about the different treatment of left-handed in different regions and cultures. The way we think is also different from right-handed. She helps our attendees think about how we use our hands by teaching them Furoshiki, a Japanese technique of wrapping and carrying lunchboxes using a cloth. She demoed the difference with a southpaw by showing how a left-handed dog reacts to its owner/handler and to its environment.