Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

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.

Job Training Graduation

Last week twelve of our students graduated from DDP’s Job Training Project after a year of training. It was a happy and important day. The students had been trained in metalwork, sewing, barbering, and beauty skills. Click here to see photos from the day.

Spreading Success

Ms. Kem Khemara is the owner/director of the Bi Salon beauty establishments in Phnom Penh. She spent seven years in Japan and speaks the language fluently, and she is also an accomplished businesswoman. She has taken a special interest in training young deaf women to work in her salons and they have been very successful, so much so that Japanese television came to film a documentary about her accomplishments. Here she is filmed speaking to DDP’s co-director Keat Sokly about her involvement with the DDP students.

Two Language Schools

Julie Lawler (left, at table) is a new Maryknoll Lay Missioner who will work at the Deaf Development Programme. She is in class every day to learn the Khmer language but twice a week she is also learning Cambodian Sign Language! She has a head start because she already knows American Sign Language.

Out of the Office

“Out of the office” can have a different meaning from usual for Prak Soeun, the DDP Program Manager. Our new office building has a nice second-floor porch and Soeun often uses it, instead of his office, when he is working his way through piles of papers.

Protecting the Children—2

This morning Chanthea (C) was to visit several of the sites connected with the Job Training Project which Caritas Australia funds. Before they started off, he met with Lika (L), our child protection compliance officer, and Sokly.
In the afternoon, Chanthea and Sokly drove to Kandal Province to visit Ratanak, a DDP-trained barber. Two years ago Caritas Australia featured Ratanak in a video they used for education and fund-raising in Australia. Chanthea took advantage of the visit to get his hair cut. Ratanak is a real success story.

Protecting the Children

(L-R:) Nou Chanthea, Keat Sokly, Lika, Prak Soeun, Russ Brine

In today’s world, all international donors are very concerned about the child protection policies of the partner organizations that receive their money. DDP’s donors are no exception, and today Nou Chanthea (L), the representative from Caritas Australia, met with DDP management to discuss new forms and new requirements established by the government of Australia which gives money to Caritas which gives it to us. Caritas Australia is especially careful concerning child protection but so is Maryknoll Cambodia so today Chanthea just explained the new form we will need for reporting at the end of the year.

Rest Stop….I’ll pass

I had to return by myself to Phnom Penh from the DDP annual staff meeting rather than with the group. I took a bus service and we made a stop halfway through the trip. Each company has an arrangement with the restaurant or shop where they stop, to allow the drivers to eat for free, etc.

The place where our bus stopped for a rest break was a real dive. It is out in the middle of nowhere and has nothing attractive. It was late evening when we arrived and the bus driver left the headlights on to shine into the eating area so we could see. (The picture looks lighter but it was really dark inside.
Most such rest stops allow passengers to choose food from a menu, to be cooked on the spot. This place had five or six large pots of food probably cooked early in the morning.
This is the little “convenience store” which all these places have. It was stacked with trash and covered with a layer of dust. The toilets were to the left of this shack and were unlit and absolutely dark when we were there.
There was no selection in this “store” that would entice anyone. Everything there looked like it had been there for months. I had some cookies with me so I just bought a Coke from the orange coolers on the left, figuring that would be safe.