St. Joseph's School for the Deaf

The Deaf Farm

 

Sr. Angela Fernando, a Perpetual Help Sister who was killed in a traffic accident a few years ago, had a dream of establishing a farm for teaching deaf youth the knowledge and skills for farming. This training farm was established and is a really beautiful facility. Today, however, the numbers of young deaf people wanting to learn farming are decreasing. More and more deaf youth, like their hearing peers, want to work in offices and in less physically demanding jobs.

 

Sign for Deaf Farm
Charlie with deaf farm workers
Charlie with three of the deaf men who work on the farm. Leon (left) is the farm manager. The young men have just cut coconuts to provide a refreshing drink for the visitors to their farm.
Three of the chicken sheds
The main area of training at the farm today is raising chickens in huge sheds like these.
Cleaning eggs for sale
One of the deaf men cleaning eggs for sale. The farm also sells broiler chickens to the public.
Deaf women trainees
Deaf women are also trained at the farming, in general gardening skills but also in sewing and other household skills.
Bust of Sr. Angela Fernando
A memorial bust of Sr. Angela Fernando who founded the farm for training deaf youth.
Sisters who run the farm
These are the two Perpetual Help Sisters who live on the farm today and oversee all the operations.

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