Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

Not so fast….

We moved a lot of office furniture and boxes to our new building but we have been slow in unpacking and setting up the new office configurations. Mostly that is due to moving at the end of the year when a lot of staff are taking days off, using their annual leave.

Preparing to move

We are moving our office from one building on our compound to another building and it has been a slow and complicated process. There have been delays getting the new building ready and it has taken a lot of time to empty cabinets and pack materials for the short journey.

Here the sign language department prepares materials for the move which is planned by the end of the month.

Inclusive Employment Workshop

We had a workshop today to discuss and promote inclusive employment for people with disabilities. It was quite good, much better than what I usually expect from such workshops. Soknym, our DDP director, and I attended to give more voice to the deaf community.

Representatives from industry, especially the garment manufacturers, from the Ministry of Labor, and from NGOs attended.
We provided a sign language interpreter (seated, grey blouse) for two young deaf men who attended.
Later one of the deaf men reported from one of the six discussion groups that were the last activity of the afternoon.

Graduation Day

Today was graduation day at the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme. We had students finishing Year 2 of our Education Project and other students finishing their work in the Job Training Project. Here DDP director Sau Soknym speaks to all the students before handing out certificates.

Homegrown

Today I was working upstairs at the Deaf Development Programme and the maintenance man brought me a coconut to drink. He brings me things occasionally to try, things he thinks may be new to a foreigner, but this is the first time I had a coconut grown on our own property!

DDP at Christmas Fair

Every year the Women’s International Group hosts a Christmas fair that has become a major seasonal event. This year’s gathering at the Canadian International School was no exception.

This year was the first time the Deaf Development Programme had a booth at the fair. We sold some handicrafts made by deaf people, sign language books, and various foods prepared by deaf staff. Here DDP staff assist some customers.

Some deaf people came just to enjoy the Christmas fair.

This was my first time to attend the WIG Christmas Fair and I was surprised at how large and complex it was. This is a gymnasium area where smaller NGOs like DDP displayed their wares.

In an open interior courtyard of the school, some students performed songs, adding gestures and sign language to some of them.

In another part of the expansive school grounds, families took photos against a Christmas tree backdrop. It’s quite probably that many having their photo taken here had no idea of the meaning of Christmas and its celebration.

Getting Ready for the Game

Every year the International Starfish Foundation organizes football (soccer) tournaments for deaf teams from around the country. Today their representatives passed out uniforms and football cleats for the upcoming games. Almost all of our deaf students in the DDP hostel will play and now these three young women have their kit!