Category: Deaf

Aaron Wong is a sign language linguist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  For the last three weeks he has been in Cambodia, training the members of our sign language committee in the basics of sign language linguistics to help them promote and develop the national sign language better.  Aaron has done a wonderful job, a resource that we have waited for for several years.  Today was the last day of the training and after the deaf students expressed their appreciation for his work, Charlie Dittmeier offered him two of the DDP khramas that we give to our visitors.

On 14 August, Kaitlynn Himmelreich finished up her two months of research with the deaf community here in Cambodia and got on the plane to return to her student life in the US where classes begin next Monday.  Kaitlynn adjusted well to life in Cambodia and was really able to integrate with and communicate with the deaf people wherever she them.  Here she is presenting to Charlie Dittmeier a thank-you card acknowledging the good experiences she had in Cambodia.

Krousar Thmey and the Deaf Development Programme jointly sponsor a sign language committee tasked with researching and promoting Cambodian Sign Language. The committee was supposed to receive training six or seven years ago but it didn’t work out.

Now Aaron Wong, a deaf man from Hong Kong, and Keat Sokly, the co-director of DDP, are offering three weeks of training. Both are trained sign language linguists.The committee members are meeting at DDP and are off to a really good start.