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People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world
Today is the last day of International Deaf Week, the celebration held each year by deaf people all over the world the last week of September. One feature of Deaf Week is this Deaf flag which was voted on and approved in 2023 at the general assembly of the World Federation of the Deaf.
As we mark 20 years of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we celebrate a recognition: national sign languages as full and equal languages. 20 years on, recognizing national sign languages means reaffirming a commitment to deaf people’s human rights and ensuring these rights are fully implemented.
50 years ago when I was teaching seniors at Angela Merici High School, I invited some of the girls to help with activities of the Catholic deaf community in Louisville, assisting with spaghetti dinners or Christmas parties or things like that. The volunteers learned sign language and were a real asset for the deaf group. And some of them are still volunteering!
Above L to R are Charlie, Peg, Donna, Nancy, and Fr. Randy Hubbard who replaced me with the deaf people when I went to work in Asia. The girls back then called themselves “Charlie’s Angels,” after the then current TV show, and these three are still angels. There were two more of the long term angel volunteers but they have died.
While I was in Asia we would gather for a meal when I came home for a visit, and now that I have returned we still get together and did so today.
The Archdiocese of Louisville (Archlou) has a monthly podcast highlighting people and programs of the local church. Sr. Susan Gatz of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and I were invited to be the focus of the May podcast which was aired yesterday. We talked about our work as missioners in other countries. Click here for a link to this half-hour video.
Nazareth Home has recently had two deaf residents (they were part of the Catholic deaf community when I was here 40 years ago!) and I was asked to help provide some American Sign Language so staff can communicate more easily with them. Only deaf people should teach their language, to insure real learning, but I am giving some introductory principles and simple signs for communicating until some deaf teachers can be arranged. Because of work schedules usually only five to ten employees can attend class together.
Today was a great day of engaging with colleagues and friends! The morning started off with a breakfast meeting with Colin Allen, the former president of the World Federation of the Deaf, who is now training DDP staff for the Deaf Leadership Training Project.
Today, Monday, was my first full work day in Phnom Penh and I spent most of it at DDP, the Deaf Development Programme. It was wonderful to see the students and staff again and we all had a grand reunion.
Then we just talked for a while as we were catching up on each other’s lives. We were lucky we could be in the open dining area because the temperature was 101 degrees,
When I left Cambodia last August, I was discussing with Caritas Cambodia, our new parent NGO, about funding for the Deaf Development Programme. But then the border war between Thailand and Cambodia erupted, and Caritas Cambodia went to the border to set up tent housing for displaced people and provide them with food, water, toilets, and other supplies. Our discussions with Caritas were suspended. Now I am heading back to Phnom Penh to resume our discussions. I just flew from Louisville and am in Denver, my first stop on the way. Here at the Denver airport you can see the Rocky Mountains rising on the horizon. It takes about 35 hours to fly from Louisville to Phnom Penh.