Talks to Students and Staff
2002
I was invited by Caritas Magdalene School in Hong Kong to speak to their deaf students and staff on the theme of "Love life, the gift of God," relating it specifically to conditions in Cambodia. I arrived early in order to eat lunch with the students in this assembly area where they set up tables and stools for eating.
It has been almost three years since I left Hong Kong so the only students who remember me well are the deaf boys and girls in the older grades. Here some of them presented me with a very useful bag.
For the central focus of the talk, I used pictures of Cambodian life and of the deaf people there to illustrate conditions in Cambodia and to help the students considered their own lives and life situations and the blessings they enjoy.
The teaching staff at Caritas Magdalene School are an exceptionally dedicated group. Many have stayed at the school year after year because of their commitment to the deaf children. Here some of them prepare lessons in the crowded teachers' room.
At the end of the day, these five teachers took me to a nearby restaurant for afternoon tea and a chance to talk informally about Hong Kong and Cambodia. They are a great bunch of people!