Equal Rights for Deaf People
19-20 September 2003
| In Day Two of the Workshop on Equal Rights for Deaf People, we divided the participants into two groups, one group with all the deaf students and deaf teachers, and the other group of parents and hearing teachers. The two men from the National Association of the Deaf in Thailand spoke to both groups on the topic of "Deaf Awareness," and Carol-lee Aquiline spoke to the deaf group about the need for deaf leaders and to the hearing group about her experiences growing up deaf and becoming a successful deaf adult. This message was particularly appropriate for the hearing parents who have great worries about the future of their deaf children. |
 Carol-lee Aquiline shows the hearing parents and teachers of deaf children parts of a video that focuses on many successful deaf adults leading happy lives. This was a message the parents were anxious to hear because of their fears of what will happen to their children in an underdeveloped country like Cambodia. |
 We didn't have a place suitable for taking a photograph of the whole group together, so we made pictures of the groups from each of the provinces. Here are the parents, teachers, and deaf children from Svay Rieng. |
 The actual content of the workshop was presented by four people brought to Cambodia. Carol-lee Aquiline (left) is the General Secretary of the World Federation of the Deaf and came from Finland for the workshop. Next to her is Surachet Lertsajayan and Surasak Chittasettak, two leaders of the National Association of the Deaf Thailand. Next to them is their Thai Sign Language interpreter. |
 The session of the deaf students and teachers with Carol-lee was quite lively. The Cambodian deaf people could all readily identify with Carol-lee who is also deaf, and listened attentively to her stories and encouragement to her Cambodian counterparts. |
 We felt a bit guilty for boring the children the first day of the workshop so for the last break, we splurged a little bit on soft drinks and cookies in addition to the fruit that we had at every break. Both the children and their parents seemed to enjoy the snacks and their break time together. One of the problems in families with deaf children is that there tend to be very few activities in which all the family members can participate equally and enjoy the same experience together. |
 Part of most events in Cambodia is the giving out of T-shirts to commemorate the occasion. As one of our final activities we gave out T-shirts for the celebration of the International Day of Deaf People which was held the next day. |