Deaf – Page 12 – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

Human Rights for the Deaf 4

The training for judges and prosecutors working with people with disabilities was organized by the Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (or UN Human Rights). It was held at the Angkor Paradise Hotel which seemed to have five or six UN and NGO meetings going on while still accommodating hordes of tourists come to see Angkor Wat.

The Angkor Paradise Hotel is a beautiful facility but much of its beauty comes from its (over) use of luxury woods native to Cambodia, one of its treasures.

The hotel lobby exhibited the characteristic Cambodia display of wooden furniture, figures, and objects.

The shops in the lobby were accented by massive wooden stools. Imagine the huge luxury trees sacrificed to provide these five incredibly heavy wooden decorations in the corridor.

Wooden chairs and a carving worth thousands of dollars decorate one of the passageways. These chairs are really unusual because they are padded! I have never seen that in 23 years here. For me one of the curses of Cambodia is sitting in a doctor’s waiting room with these huge wooden chairs, designed for a Cambodian sense of beauty and not for comfort.

The Angkor Paradise Hotel has a beautiful pool.

And of course the pool furniture is more of the heavy wooden style.

Human Rights for the Deaf 3

Every time I go to Siem Reap I stay at the Bun Kao Guest House. Maryknoll has known their family for 25+ years and they are just delightful people. There are fancier and more modern places to stay but I really like their guest house.

A small porch on each floor looks down on the street.

The guest house has not starting serving meals again after Covid so I walked around the corner to this little restaurant and laundry run by a mother with two teenage children.

Human Rights for the Deaf 2

Unexpectedly the judicial officials for whom the training was set up failed to appear. The organizers had to do some creative revisions to the agenda but the program turned out well for the Organizations for Disabled People and officials from other ministries who attended.

This speaker (standing) was from the Disability Action Council of the Ministry of Social Affairs, one of the organizers of the training.

Staff of OPDs (Organizations of Persons with Disabilities) discussed some of the legislation and planning about people with disabilities in Cambodia.

The group discussions were characterized by significant awareness of the problems faced by people with disabilities when dealing with the law and by a genuine determination to address those issues.

Another speaker (in wheelchair) who is quite knowledgeable about the disability field.

This small group preferred to discuss standing up.

Human Rights for the Deaf

The Deaf Development Programme works closely with OHCHR, the UN Office of the High Commission on Human Rights, and today and tomorrow I am participating in a training session for judicial system leaders about the legal rights of people with disabilities.

The judges and prosecutors from several provinces have been invited to attend. I am speaking to them tomorrow about the difficulties that deaf people have with the police and judicial system.

Meeting Day 2

While Sophy was representing DDP at the UN Human Rights training session in Phnom Penh (yesterday’s post), three others of our staff went to Kampong Cham Province with UNDP to meet with the governor’s office.

Mr. Song Sit from the United Nations Development Program spoke to the group about building up the deaf community in Kampong Cham Province.

Mr. Vanna spoke more about the program as Sreynuch interpreted into Cambodian Sign Language.

Working in small groups was an especially important part of the program because the Kampong Cham deaf group has developed to where they are having substantive discussions.

Another positive development displayed at the meeting was the ability and willingness of deaf persons to speak up for a point of view

Meeting Day

Today was a significant meeting day for the Deaf Development Programme. We were invited to attend a training organized by the UN Human Rights office in Phnom Penh, and we were requested to meet with UNDP and the governor’s office in Kampong Cham Province.

Here Sophy (with the microphone), part of our DDP management team, answers questions about deaf people’s access to the judicial system at the UN Human Rights training in Phnom Penh.

Musica Felice (October)

Twice a year, Musica Felice, a musical and choral group founded and directed by Ms. Miwako Fujiwara, presents benefit concerts at the Sofitel, a 5-star hotel in Phnom Penh. This October performance benefited the Deaf Development Programme.

We arrived early and it gave our students some time to explore and look around the lobby of the grand ballroom. For almost all of them, it was their first experience in a five-star hotel.

We had reserved seats at the front where the deaf people had good visibility, and when we gathered at our seats, Miwako came over to welcome us!

The grand ballroom just before the lights dimmed for the opening.

At the intermission Miwako had arranged for each of the students to get a croissant or other pastry.

This concert didn’t have the videos and visual effects of some previous performances, but in the second half, featuring music from *Les Miserables*, the singers wore costumes and staged some of the settings for the lyrics.

At the end all our students marched up to the stage as part of a finale, and then they gathered for photos with the cast and with Miwako. The deaf students really couldn’t enjoy the music but it was a real learning experience for them.

Getting ready….

On Sunday, Musica Felice will have a charity concert at the Sofitel Hotel in Phnom Penh to benefit the Deaf Development Programme. Our deaf students will have a walk-on role at the end and today our teachers handed out T-shirts they will wear. Our special thanks to Ms. Miwako Fujiwara, the organizer of Musica Felice, who also provided the shirts!

Pchum Ben at DDP-2

After the monks gave their Buddhist blessing, Fr. Charlie had a Catholic blessing, showing that both traditions seek blessings but that the Catholic tradition prays to God to be with us and bless us.

Pchum Ben at DDP

All Souls Day, a commemoration of deceased family and friends, is celebrated on November 2nd in Christianity. The Buddhist equivalent is a two-week long celebration called Pchum Ben. It is a major festival and everyone goes to her or his home village to be with family.