Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

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.

We celebrated Pchum Ben at DDP today, inviting Buddhist monks to come and chant. Here deaf students follow the sign language of an interpreter.
After the Buddhist blessing, Fr. Charlie had a Christian blessing, then we took the above group photo, and then all the staff and students ate a simple meal together before the students left DDP to spend nine days at home with their families.

A Concert Is Coming….

Today Ms. Miwako Fujiwara came to DDP to talk with our students about the next Musica Felice concert to be held. It will benefit DDP and Miwako would like to involve some of the deaf people in parts of the production.

Deaf Week

Friday

The activity for Friday of Deaf Week was making shirts with handprints, signatures, greetings, etc. Here Julie Lawler and I sign the shirts of two students

After making the shirts, the students saw some sign language videos, had some chocolate to drink, and then played some games.

Deaf Week

Tuesday
This Tuesday of Deaf Week had a coffee theme, and members of a delegation from the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the Agile NGO were invited to share coffee with the deaf students.
Wednesday
The theme for Wednesday of Deaf Week was khramas, the cotton scarf used by everyone in any fashion or way that suits your needs.
I had to get help to tie a khrama around my head somewhat artfully!

Deaf Week

Sunday

Every year deaf people around the world celebrate Deaf Week to inform people about their deaf culture and to encourage the inclusion of deaf people into the societies and communities where they live.

This year a major change for our Deaf Day was moving to a new venue, a Salesian Sisters school in Phnom Penh. We were afraid it might seem far away for members of the deaf community but it turned out to be an ideal location.
Another change this year was having the big Deaf Day celebration on the Sunday at the beginning of Deaf Week instead of at the end of the week. The morning saw an opening talk and the a story-telling activity. Then it was time for lunch which was prepared by the hearing students in the hotel hospitality training program at the school.
After lunch there were some games pitting teams against each other. The games are always a most enjoyable time for these gatherings.
Then it was time for the major activity of the day, a food-tasting event. Volunteers from the English Catholic Community prepared foods from their home countries to give the deaf people a taste and a glimpse of different cultures from around the world.
Deaf people experience tremendous isolation. Hearing people tend to avoid them because they don’t know to communicate with deaf people, and so when we have a large gathering like this a major attraction is just catching up with old friends and chatting in sign language.
We also have a Deaf Day celebration in Kampong Cham Province but this year we also invited a group from Kampong Cham to participate with us in Phnom Penh.