Deaf – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

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.

DLTP Training

The Deaf Leadership Training Program now going on at DDP has invited deaf leaders from other countries to share with the DLTP team their wisdom and experience with national associations of the deaf. This week Tien (far left), a deaf leader from Vietnam, came to work with our staff.

Classroom Activity

Some Year 1 students in an activity on the classroom floor

Deaf Leadership Training

At the Caritas Deaf Development Programme, we have leadership training going on as a preliminary step to establishing a national association of the deaf.

Today our DLTP team met with Mariah (C) from the Philippines. She is a leader in their national deaf association and helped our group understand the differences and commonalities of deaf associations around the world.

DLTP Meeting

This week the Deaf Leadership Training Program had an all-day meeting to finalize a concept paper or proposal to be sent to be considered for funding by the Finnish Association of the Deaf. Here the Cambodian staff members of the training team and the management of DDP discuss whether to approve or not the draft version of the proposal.

Student Experience

After a carcinoma was removed from my right forearm, I needed to change the bandage every two days and it was almost impossible with just one hand. Today I asked some of the deaf students to help.

Primarily I just wanted to give them a new experience since they would not be exposed much to this type of wound. There is no Cambodian sign for cancer so I just signed there was a problem in my arm and then explained the steps of biopsy, excision, bandaging, removal of the stitches, etc. They would probably not also have a chance to see the actual stitches in someone’s arm.

Another reason for asking them to help was to affirm them. Deaf people in Cambodia are looked down upon and mostly ignored. These young people have never even talked to their own parents because their families do not know sign language. They can get the impression that they are useless, a burden on the family, and without value. Letting them help me and my thanking them gives them a sense that they are good and can do good things and people will appreciate them.

Job Coaching Training

Today we had the third and final day of training for job coaching for people with disabilities. We got a lot of good information but it will be a major initiative to implement it as a DDP project.

Job Coaching Training

Today we began a second three-day training on job coaching for people with disabilities.

Training the way it should be….

This week a representative of the national deaf association of Thailand (by the fan) came to Phnom Penh as part of the training of young Cambodian deaf people to be leaders in a national association here. it is wonderful to see deaf leaders training our deaf leaders in fluent sign language. They learn so much more when their teacher is deaf himself!

Sign language resource

Patrick Labelle is a French friend of the deaf who has developed an app for learning and using sign language. It’s for use by deaf children more than the general public.