Category: Deaf

People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world

Trip to Kampong Cham #1

Today Sau Soknym and took a van to Kampong Cham to some districts where DDP has set up local deaf groups with funding from the United Nations Development Program. It was quite interesting and I’ll put more about it here in the next day or so.

One interesting feature for me was the Virak Buntham bus company we used. I had never encountered them but they are the best I’ve seen, going everywhere in Cambodia and with really good vehicles and professional staff. I wish I had found them years ago! Here are two of their vans at our first rest stop.

Social Enterprise

PPC Bank–Phnom Penh

Social enterprises are businesses or commercial endeavors that differ from regular businesses in that the goal of the enterprise is not just to make money for the stockholders but to provide social assistance to some group like people with disabilities. In Phnom Penh the PPC Bank five years ago set up a social enterprise called Socials Coffee, a coffee shop right in their bank building, and they recruited, trained, and hired deaf people as employees.

Yesterday Socials Coffee celebrated their 5th anniversary which a fun gathering at the bank. Here one of the bank executives speaks about their vision and how it has worked.
Many of the deaf community came for the celebration.
It was impressive to see how many people came for the anniversary.
A group of the DDP staff got together for a photo.
The all our present and former students joined the photol

Thank you, Socials Coffee and PPC Bank!

Poor Workmanship

When the budget cuts took effect at the Deaf Development Programme, we put up a small office and classroom building to eliminate the high rent we were paying. The building was behind schedule but it turned out OK–except for the floor. The workmen did a terrible job, leaving us with a real mess.

The floor had large areas of discoloration, paint drippings, and even started to disintegrate in spots after a week or two. I kept thinking the contractor would come back and do something but it soon became apparent he considered that job finished.

[To be continued]

Street Surprise

This morning at 7:15 AM I was riding my bicycle home from mass with Mother Teresa’s sisters and heard someone calling me. It wasn’t my name because he is deaf but I stopped and it was Samath, our former staff artist who now is on the staff of the National Institute of Special Education. He was off today and was taking a 30 or 40-mile bicycle ride to Kandal Province to see some deaf friends. It was great to see him again! I didn’t know of his bicycle-riding interest.

Coming up….

For serious Christians, the upcoming Holy Week may be part of their thinking and planning. Palm Sunday is next Sunday and the beginning of the special and holy for belivers in Jesus. For most Cambodians, however, what is coming up and is on their minds is the Khmer New Year, April 13-15.

Here are some DDP students and a staff member from the Deaf Community Center practicing a traditional dance that uses dried coconut shells to make a clacking sound.

Homegrown

Life is simpler in Cambodia in many ways. Here a group of deaf students and their teacher really celebrate picking a jackfruit from a tree on the DDP grounds and just enjoying it together!

Farewell to the Barbers

The Deaf Development Programme offers two years of non-formal education and then a year of job training. For the boys our most successful skill to learn is barbering. Today three of our new barbers left DDP after three years with us.

The boys’ parents and some brothers and sisters came to pick them up, and we tried to really welcome them and help them to feel proud of their sons. Too many families with deaf children see their sons and daughters who can’t hear as problems, so today it was good for us to emphasize to these parents that now their sons can set up a barber shop in the provinces and contribute to the support of the family.
These parents rode in a tuk-tuk for three hours to reach Phnom Penh before lunch so we planned to feed them before their return journey.
It was good for the other students to be part of the celebration, too, to encourage them with a recognition of the success and accomplishment that can be theirs in another year or two.
Then it was time to load the barber chairs and mirrors and barber tools into tuk-tuks for the ride home. It was a crowded ride for the families.
This family was able to arrange for a tuk-tuk with a rack on top so they had more room inside for the people.

Sign language class

Today Ms. Korn Maly (with microphone) began a new class teaching Cambodian Sign Language and I was invited to give a welcome to the students. I emphasized how important it is for more people to know sign language so that deaf people can be more included in the day-to-day interactions of life.

WIG Visitors

Several months ago some DDP staff attended a meeting of the Women’s International Group to talk to them about deafness and the work of DDP. They invited us to apply for funding through them, and this week a delegation from WIG came to visit DDP and discuss our work. We were very pleased to welcome them.

Women’s Day 2023

The Deaf Development Programme always celebrates Women’s Day as one of its special days and this year we moved the celebration to this Sunday so more people could come from the provinces and join in the fun and camaraderie.

This was the first big celebration we had since we moved from our old office grounds where we had big open areas. Today we used the eating area for our hostel and it was cramped but not so crowded as to be uncomfortable.
Our celebrations always have an array of simple games which people really enjoy. Here a young woman flips a water bottle to see if she can make land upright. If she does her paper is stamped and she gets a prize.
Another game challenged participants to blow a ping pong ball across glasses of water.
Another game used a water gun to shoot balls off the cups.
Those who were successful at the games brought their stamped games slips here to claim a little prize.
The games were fun but perhaps the most enjoyable part of the day was eating lunch together and then just talking to and catching up with friends not seen for many months.