Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

ANM Day 5 (February 21) #2

Today’s meeting focused on finalizing a work plan for 2026-2029. Here Vanna offers his comments.
We have frequent breaks for the benefit of the sign language interpreters. Interpreting is very fatiguing because of the concentration required. Here Julie Lawler talks with the DLTP deaf staff during a break.
At the afternoon break, the students brought out a birthday cake and fruit they had prepared for me for my birthday tomorrow. The best part of my job is interacting with the students but I don’t have much opportunity for that now.
After the cake, I said goodbye to Katarina and Rebecca and then headed for the airport. the Phnom Penh traffic is terrible now and it took an hour to go the four or five miles. These are some meat vendors along one of the major streets near the airport.

ANM Day 5 (February 21) #1

I’m in Bangkok, just arrived, for a trip to get a new visa. We had ANM meetings all day in Phnom Penh and then at the afternoon break, the DDP students brought out a cake to celebrate my birthday. These young people are such a delight! Then I hastened to the airport to fly to Thailand.

More tomorrow…

ANM Day 4 (February 20)

Katarina and Soknym check their notes before the morning session begins.
One of the trainees offers her thoughts in the discussion.
Colin presents some notes on the work plan for 2026.
A tradition at these ANMs is to have a meal together, getting away from the meeting room for a few hours.

ANM Day 3 (February 19)

The morning session was a meeting between Katarina from FAD and all the deaf participants in the Deaf Leadership Training Program, without any management present.
The meeting is complex because we are using English, Khmer, Cambodian Sign Language, and Australian Sign Language. Here Rebecca (L, the Auslan interpreter), shows her sign language name to Srey Mom (the CSL interpreter), and Anh (the Khmer-English voice interpreter).
DLTP and DDP staff setting up the projector before the meeting began.
Soknym, the DDP director, reported on the progress negotiating an agreement with the U.N. Development Program.
Later, Colin spoke about the action plan for DLTP for 2025.

ANM Day 2 (February 18)

ANM stands for Annual Negotiations Meeting.

The Finnish Association of the Deaf funds our project to establish a national association of the deaf and also some community development activities. Here Sophary (standing, left) informs the group about the activities since last year in the Phnom Penh area.

At the break, Julie Lawler (L), a Maryknoll Lay Missioner working in the Education Project, speaks with Katarina. Her suitcase had still not arrived!

Next on the program was a report on community development in the Kampong Cham area, given by Solydem (L), the center manager there.

ANM Day 1 (February 17)

Every year (when there’s no Covid!), our project coordinator from the Finnish Association of the Deaf comes for a week of meetings to review the past year and plan and budget for the coming year. Today Katarina, from FAD, arrived in Phnom Penh–minus her luggage–and within two hours was leading an opening meeting with us at the DDP office.

Deaf Awareness at U.S. Embassy

Today a team of young deaf people from the Deaf Leadership Training Project offered a deaf awareness training to some staff of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh. It took a lot of organization and planning but turned out quite well.

Phones and photos were not permitted inside the embassy but afterwards we took a photo outside the embassy. As mark of appreciation, the embassy staff gave each of the DDP team a cap with an American flag and the words “U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh.”

A New Adventure

The Caritas Deaf Development Programme offers two years of really basic education and then a year of job training. New this year is the opportunity to learn baking and beauty skills with the Korean Mission Society (KOMISO). Today three of our students left the hostel at DDP to move to the KOMISO training center on the other side of town. They were a little anxious because this is the first time our deaf students have gone to live in a training center run by hearing people. It will be a learning experience for us all.

KOMISO Bakery Training

KOMISO is a project of the Korean Mission Society in Cambodia, a Catholic mission group from Korea like Maryknoll is from the United States. KOMISO offers vocational training to poor, under educated young people, offering three skills: motorcycle repair, baking, and beauty salon work. We have been discussing with them the acceptance of deaf students for training.

Our students are interested in the beauty work and baking. Last week I visited the KOMISO training center and met the trainees and the Korean couple (rear) who are teaching the baking.

On that day the training was on creating the different types of figures that are placed on top of cakes. It was amazing to see the craftsmanship that goes into the decorative figures. Three of our deaf graduates are interested in the baking.

All the students live at the training center while they go through the six-month courses. In addition to the technical skills they learn, they also have one hour a day in character development, to teach them good values.

I am anxious for our students to start training there.

Graduation Day

Today was graduation day for our Year 2 Education Project students and our Job Training Project trainees. It was a joyful experience.

I was the opening act after we sang the national anthem in sign language. I welcomed the parents and thanked them for supporting their deaf daughters and sons in getting an education at the Deaf Development Programme. These young people have great economic value for dirt-poor families in the rural provinces and many parents will not allow their children to come to us.
Then I told the young people I am proud of them and was happy to have had them with us, and that was especially true for this delightful group.