Deaf Day 2021

Today deaf people around the world celebrated International Deaf Day as part of Deaf Week. We wanted to celebrate in Phnom Penh but it was difficult because of the pandemic. The government yesterday just reissued a directive that no more than fifteen people can come together. We had planned to have three groups of fifteen but it was difficult to keep people from just coming together and enjoying each other as they have in the past. They have not seen each other for almost a year.

A group of deaf women preparing vegetables for a Khmer curry.
Two deaf men taking ice to a drinks table where people can serve themselves
Fr. Charlie welcoming the group as they arrived in the morning.
Deaf people eagerly conversing after not seeing each for a long time.
A fun activity for the group. We tried to maintain social distancing. It was good that everything was held outside.
Time to eat. The big pots have two kinds of Khmer curry to choose from.
These are all the vegetables cleaned and chopped up earlier. They go over rice noodles with one of the curries.