Deaf Awareness Day 2001

Deaf Awareness Day 2001
Every year Deaf Awareness Week is celebrated around the world in the last full week in September. This year Cambodia held its second Deaf Awareness Day, on Saturday, 29 September. It was organized by the Cambodian Disabled People's Organization and several other groups, including Maryknoll.
This year the theme was highlighting all the different NGOs and organizations that work with deaf people. Featured in short presentations were CDPO, Action for Disability and Development, American Friends Service Committee, the National Center for Disabled People, and Maryknoll.

29 September 2001

Deaf marchers with signs The deaf community came out in force for the march from the CDPO office to the park in front of Wat Butom where the rally was held. Supporters from several other disability NGOs also marched with the deaf people.

Marching on one of Phnom Penh's busiest streets The march route took the demonstration along Sihanouk Boulevard, one of Phnom Penh's busiest streets. People came out to watch the marchers go by because such demonstrations are not common here. The patience of the traffic was surprising with not one horn blown or other signs of irritation as the marchers blocked off intersecting streets.

Policeman looking at sign language books There seemed to be a heavier police presence at the rally site this year. Here three different kinds of Cambodian policemen try to learn sign language from the new sign language booklets just printed yesterday by CDPO.

Signing the national anthem At the beginning of any kind of function in Cambodia, the national anthem is always sung--or rather played. I think there is only one scratchy tape of the anthem which is used by the whole country. Here the deaf people are signing the national anthem to begin the rally.

Minister of Education arrives for the rally A part of any program like ours is the invitation of a government minister who gives "face" to all that is going on in what is still somewhat of a tribal society. Sometimes, too, the minister is invited with the hope and expectation that he will provide money for the sponsoring group. Sometimes, though, it is the sponsoring group that needs to pay money to the government to insure that someone from the ministry will come.

Traditional dance begins the ceremony Every sort of formal event in Cambodia begins with traditional Khmer dancing. That seems to be one Khmer art form that is in no danger of disappearing! Right before the dance, the monks (seated in the back) are always reverenced and given gifts to ask for their blessing and to make the event auspicious.

Vuth gives a speech Sereyvuth, one of the deaf people who went to Finland with me for the annual negotiations about the deaf program budget, here gives a speech in sign language to welcome the guests and explain about the condition of deaf people in Cambodia.

Eating dinner at a nearby restaurant The group from Sihanoukville brought several children in their entourage of 23 who made the four-hour trip to Phnom Penh from the coast. They didn't want the children to wait until the program finished at 8:30 PM to eat so they snuck away during some of the talks to a nearby restaurant and I went with them.

A stand-up comedy routine Another part of almost every joyous gathering of Cambodians is the comedy routine. Usually there are a man and a woman working together to make the crowd laugh, whether it's at a wedding at 7:00 o'clock Tuesday morning or an occasion like ours. Here a famous comedian goes through his routine with a group of deaf people. He did exceptionally well interacting with them and reading their sign language.

	The deaf community came out in force for the march from the CDPO office to the park in front of Wat Butom where the rally was held. Supporters from several other disability NGOs also marched with the deaf people.
	The march route took the demonstration along Sihanouk Boulevard, one of Phnom Penh's busiest streets. People came out to watch the marchers go by because such demonstrations are not common here. The patience of the traffic was surprising with not one horn blown or other signs of irritation as the marchers blocked off intersecting streets.
	There seemed to be a heavier police presence at the rally site this year. Here three different kinds of Cambodian policemen try to learn sign language from the new sign language booklets just printed yesterday by CDPO.
	At the beginning of any kind of function in Cambodia, the national anthem is always sung--or rather played. I think there is only one scratchy tape of the anthem which is used by the whole country. Here the deaf people are signing the national anthem to begin the rally.
	A part of any program like ours is the invitation of a government minister who gives "face" to all that is going on in what is still somewhat of a tribal society. Sometimes, too, the minister is invited with the hope and expectation that he will provide money for the sponsoring group. Sometimes, though, it is the sponsoring group that needs to pay money to the government to insure that someone from the ministry will come.
	Every sort of formal event in Cambodia begins with traditional Khmer dancing. That seems to be one Khmer art form that is in no danger of disappearing! Right before the dance, the monks (seated in the back) are always reverenced and given gifts to ask for their blessing and to make the event auspicious.
	Sereyvuth, one of the deaf people who went to Finland with me for the annual negotiations about the deaf program budget, here gives a speech in sign language to welcome the guests and explain about the condition of deaf people in Cambodia.
	The group from Sihanoukville brought several children in their entourage of 23 who made the four-hour trip to Phnom Penh from the coast. They didn't want the children to wait until the program finished at 8:30 PM to eat so they snuck away during some of the talks to a nearby restaurant and I went with them.
	Another part of almost every joyous gathering of Cambodians is the comedy routine. Usually there are a man and a woman working together to make the crowd laugh, whether it's at a wedding at 7:00 o'clock Tuesday morning or an occasion like ours. Here a famous comedian goes through his routine with a group of deaf people. He did exceptionally well interacting with them and reading their sign language.