Deaf – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

Deaf Leadership Training Program

The Finnish Association of the Deaf is a funder of the Caritas Deaf Development Programme, and they are giving priority to the development of a national association of the deaf for Cambodia. They have shifted funding to that and have engaged Colin Allen, a deaf organizations expert, to guide the establishment of an association.

Colin will train four deaf people in organizational knowledge and skills and then they will carry forward the actual erection of the deaf association. Today Colin had his first meeting with them and Sau Soknym, DDP director, began an orientation with them.

Khmer New Year

Probably two thirds or three fourths of Phnom Penh’s population leaves the city for the Khmer New Year celebrations which take place in the family home in the provinces. But the new year is also a time for foreigners to visit Cambodia and experience the special celebrations.

This year we were blessed by a return visit by Ronise Barreras who worked at DDP about fifteen years ago when we created a new job position. We wanted our students to have more than just an academic experience and Ronise came to help expose our students to new ideas and activities to broaden their understanding of the world and themselves.

Colin Allen (blue shirt) worked at DDP just before Ronise and they had met online but today was the first time we all met together in person along with Darren, Ronise’s husband. We had a delightful hour or two before I had to leave, catching up and just learning about each other’s lives fifteen or twenty years later.

Staff Training #3

The staff training concluded today with several exercises to enable the hearing staff to participate in activities led by deaf staff–using sign language but no interpreters. Deaf people routinely participate in hearing-led activities which they don’t full understand. Today the hearing people learned what it is like to participate without understanding all that is being said.

In this group a deaf man told a story and the hearing staff had to “listen” and then repeat it.

In another group, a deaf teacher showed how to make paper flowers.

Finally, before the staff from Kampong Cham Province had to leave, staff were invited to give their reflection and their learnings and understandings from the three days together.

Staff Training #2

Today was the second day of teacher training at the Deaf Development Programme. An on-going problem is communications between deaf staff and hearing staff. The deaf people complain that hearing staff do not use sign language and so the deaf are left out. There was an exercise today where three groups, each with deaf and hearing staff, worked to accomplish a goal.

Each group or team had to make a small vehicle from common items like plastic water bottles and then propel the car to the finish line. Here one team prepares to launch its car.

These two teams powered their cars with air from balloons.

After the competition, Thuch Sophy and Julie Lawler helped the groups talk about how they worked with each other.

Staff Training

As part of the Khmer New Year holiday break, DDP is taking advantage of the students’ absence to offer further training on child protection to the staff. Here the staff engage in a quick game on their afternoon break.

Khmer New Year Celebration

Today was the last day for the deaf students to be together at DDP before heading home for their new year break tomorrow.

Dancing is a really big part of Khmer culture and the deaf youth love to dance also, even if they can’t always hear the extra loud music that is playing.

Then they had the chance to eat the special curry meal they prepared yesterday. It was quite good!

The best part of being at DDP, though, is just being part of a community, having friends, and just feeling that you belong to something.

Khmer New Year prep

The Khmer New Year will be April 13, 14, and 15, but because our students will go home for a long holiday, they will celebrate the DDP new year tomorrow. Today students pitched in to prepare vegetables for the special dishes to be enjoyed tomorrow!

Saying Farewell

Sr. Regina came to DDP this morning to say goodbye to the staff she has worked with over the years.

DDP director Soknym spoke of his working with Regina.

These are the four Maryknollers associated now with DDP: Charlie, Regina, Naa (a former guard at the Maryknoll office, now at DDP), and Julie.

Redistribution

When students come to DDP for two years of education and a year of job training, we become responsible for almost everything. Most of them are from poor families with no disposable income so we help with even getting them clothing.

Here Sreytin, one of our staff sorts donated clothing we can make available to the youth who are with us.

Untidy is OK

Aesthetics is not a prominent concern in Cambodia. Much of daily life is still focused on survival and so details like cleanliness, order, discipline get ignored. An example is this installation of our wi-fi router at the Deaf Development Programme. This was a new building and the installation could have been placed anywhere and taken any shape. The final result on the main corridor of our building is what is easiest and most accessible rather than might look best.