Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

COVID-19 Notes at DDP

This week the Disability Action Council, a branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs, gave the deaf community several hundred packets containing face masks, hand sanitizer gel, and a sanitizing spray. Here some of the DDP staff set up the donated materials in preparation for distributing them to the deaf people connected with the Deaf Development Programme.

Masks for Deaf People

A Kentucky college student has created and is producing face masks with a transparent panel for deaf people who need to see a person’s face to communicate well. Part of sign language is on the hands. The rest is on the body. The emotion, punctuation, and more appears on the face and is hidden by regular surgical masks.

Here is a link to the article about the masks.

Work from home

The coronavirus pandemic has spread throughout the world and is certainly a presence now in Cambodia. Overnight our number of infected people doubled from 12 to 24. We had already been working on a DDP plan to help control the spread of the virus, and early in the morning our management team finalized a work-from-home policy. In the afternoon we gathered all the Phnom Penh staff on our porch (to minimize contact and provide more ventilation) and we explained the policy, who is to work where and how, and then sent them home for the next four to eight weeks. Who knows?

Promoting Sign Language

Today Save the Children had an event to publicize and promote their project in Pursat Province in which they are encouraging school teachers of hearing students to learn Cambodian Sign Language and to use it to make education available for deaf students in the remote areas. They have produced some good materials, and just the fact that they are now an ally in promoting the use of sign language in Cambodia is a real boost.

Making do….

Sometimes we have leftovers when Russ Brine and I eat dinner together and then I try to take them to DDP for lunch the next day. I dump some rice in a plastic ice cream tub and dump the leftovers over it and put it in the refrigerator at DDP when I arrive. Then about 10:30 or 11:00 AM, I take it out of the fridge and put it out in the sun to warm up a bit. We don’t have a microwave at the office so this is the best I can do and it usually gets a bit above room temperature.

Closing Kampot Center

Our center in Kampot, one of three, had to close in January because we anticipated there would not be enough funds to continue it through this present year. Last week we went to the center to say another farewell to the staff and to bring back to Phnom Penh some of our equipment there. Click here to see some pictures from the day.

Managers Meeting

Every quarter the middle management of DDP—the managers of the six projects–come together for a two-day meeting. At the meeting taking place this week, Russ Brine presents the latest information on DDP’s child protection policy.

Sad Day in Kampot

Today our program manager, Prak Soeun (L), and I went to Kampot for a final meeting with four staff (the two on each side of me) who have lost their jobs as DDP has had to reduce its activities in the province because of budget cuts from international donors. The two staff on the far right will continue providing minimal activities to keep the deaf community engaged there.

Who you gonna call?

While the Wuhan coronavirus is making the headlines and causing disruptions around the world, the bigger problem at DDP is mosquitoes. Recently we have had a second big infestation of the insects and today we sent the staff and students home early and a pest control company came to fog our grounds and our buildings to hopefully reduce the number of the little nasties.