Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

ANM 2024 — #2

In the past the Finnish Association of the Deaf and the Deaf Development Programme would meet together for a week in what was called the Annual Negotiations Meeting. That cycle was disrupted by Covid and we had no ANMs after March, 2019 until this week when Ms. Katarina Butera, our FAD representative, came to resume the yearly meetings.

Our first meetings were just the DDP management and Katarina and Colin Allen, a newly appointed advisor for DDP, and we used the meeting room in the DDP office building. Today, though, we had more staff attending for project reporting and moved our meeting to a larger room (where sometimes things like bicycles for incoming students can be stored.)

Hong Kong Trip 2–December, 2023

Day 5

Today I met with friends to say goodbye and then packed up for the return to Cambodia early the next morning.

Jenny Lam and I have known each other for more than twenty years, starting when she worked in the sign language program at Chinese University of Hong Kong. This morning we met to catch up.
Sr. Theresa Chien founded the Canossa School for the Deaf in Hong Kong and was its guiding light through its whole history.

Hong Kong Trip 2–December, 2023

Day 4

Today was the actual celebration for the 50th anniversary of the old Canossa School for the Deaf.

For the mass at 10:30 AM, all former students and staff were invited. I concelebrated with Fr. Lam who is the priest working now with the Catholic deaf community.
Many of the students had not seen Sr. Theresa (L) for more than twenty years.
The dinner after mass was a reunion for most of the students who attended. There were 7 or 8 tables like this one.
After leaving the anniversary celebration, I went to the home of Charlotte and Joseph who married after I left Hong Kong. We had a meal cooked by Joseph and then a delightful evening catching up.
On the way home, I took a wrong turn on some small side street and found myself in a Christmas season festival. The crowd is gathered because snow-making machine is spewing snow into the air.

Hong Kong Trip 2–December, 2023

Day 3

Day 2 was spent mostly in the room where I am staying, catching up on some work. Then on Day 3, December 29th, I went to Macau to see the Catholic deaf people there.

When we arrived, Rebecca met us and got us to St. Joseph Church were some of the Catholic deaf community had gathered.
The parish has always been most gracious to the deaf group, and today they provided us with a wonderful lunch–a great time to be together.
From the church we drove to the Trappistine Monastery were ten Trappist Sisters minister. Sr. Emmanuela warmly welcomed us and showed us around.
The monastery sits on a hilltop and overlooks the four square miles that comprise the whole area of Macau.
Finally was it was time to go home and we took a jetfoil ferry for the one-hour trip to Hong Kong. We had wanted to experience the bus ride across the new bridge, but because of holiday period, the waiting time for a bus was too long. These ferries are powered by two aircraft jet engines.

Hong Kong Trip 2–December, 2023

Day 1

Earlier in December I went to Hong Kong for the 30th anniversary of the pastoral center for people with disabilities that I helped to start. Yesterday I returned to Hong Kong for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Canossa School for the Deaf. That celebration will be on December 30th.

I took the airport bus into town and when I got off, two really good friends were there to meet me–Peggy and Angel. First we went to the apartment I am using this trip–courtesy of another really good friend, Judy in Taiwan.

Then we went to a phone shop to get a Hong Kong SIM card installed in my phone. That took an hour! After that we ate a delicious meal in a nearby restaurant.

After eating we walked to a grocery store in the Wanchai area, to get something for my breakfast in the morning. Our travel took us past a public area beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and scenes.

Exciting Day for the Deaf

After the students had eaten and it started to get dark, the musicians took the stage. There were three music groups who performed for 2+ hours.

First on stage was Musica Felice who presented songs from the musical Les Miserables.
During that first set, the deaf people–who could not hear or understand the vocals of Les Miserable–gathered together to talk and enjoy this different venue.
When Musica Felice had finished their performance Miwako came down to be with the students and a lot of selfies were taken.
Then Sea Wolf, a prominent rock group in Cambodia, took the stage and our students got energized by music they could feel even if they couldn’t hear it. Some of them jumped up on the stage to dance.
The third group to perform was Kai, from Thailand, and they were well received, too, and brought out the dancers. This was probably the first rock concert the deaf youth had ever attended and the setting was perfect for them to get an experience of exciting music.

Exchange Square Concert

Musica Felice held their most recent concert–an event to benefit the Deaf Development Programme–at Exchange Square Mall in Phnom Penh, a change of venue from the usual 5-star hotel setting. It was quite a new experience for our deaf students in various ways.

Our students arrived early in order to have time to eat before the music started. The outdoor venue was a parking lot of Exchange Square fitted out with a music stage and various stalls for food vendors.
Miwako Fujiwara, the concert organizer, gave each of the students $10 so they could buy their own food at the various stalls. That was a BIG deal for them, to have that much money and the chance to try Mexican or other new foods. Here Oula, our teacher, gave out the money.
There were several food options available from different countries but a lot of the deaf students stayed with the Khmer food they know best.
Enjoying a hamburger and tacos.
Hamburgers and quesadillas for this group.

Musica Felice Donation

Yesterday Musica Felice held a benefit concert at Exchange Square in Phnom Penh to help the Caritas Deaf Development Programme. In October DDP also benefited from a previous Musica Felice concert and this week Miwako Fujiwara presented the proceeds from that event. Thank you, Miwako! Thank you, Musica Felice!

Exciting Day for the Deaf

Today Musica Felice, under the direction of Ms. Miwako Fujiwara, organized an outdoor benefit concert at Exchange Square Mall in Phnom Penh, with the Deaf Development Programme as the beneficiary. It turned out to be quite an evening and at one point, as Sea Wolf, one of the premier bands of Cambodia was playing a song, a group of our deaf youth spontaneously ran up on to the stage to dance with them.

Human Rights Celebration

This is the 75th year since the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated and this evening the local Office of the High Commission on Human Rights had a reception at a big hotel. Our Deaf Development Programme works a lot with OHCHR (I have a meeting with them at 9:00 tomorrow morning) and I was invited.

It was quite a production and a nice meal at the end. It was good to note some of the achievements in the last 75 years but disheartening to see how little we have progressed. There’s still much to do. [The sign language interpreter on the right of the stage is one of my staff.]