Volume 4, Issue 4
June 2011 www.discoveringdeafworlds.org
Healing the Wounded Heart Project in Hue, Vietnam up feeling displaced, treated as a burden within their communities. Nevertheless, my first impression of this group was the tangible presence of a strong sense of solidarity among them: they were there to help each other make the best of the opportunity that Spiral Foundation offered them. They quickly learned to master the many skills needed not only for producing the carefully crafted items, but also for the accounting and marketing of these items, while expanding their own creative and self-taught way of communicating among themselves and with others. Since 2003, items produced by these artisans have been sold internationally Healing the Wounded Heart artisans visit a heart surgery by Spiral Foundation, providing them patient and her family in Hue, Vietnam. with fair salaries, medical insurance, housing, a daily sponsored meal, and a By Marichia Simcik Arese recreational allowance. Furthermore, all net proceeds In 2003, I contacted Dr. Nhan, Director of the Of- from sales are returned to help fund heart surgeries for fice of Genetic Counseling and Disabled Children poor Vietnamese children via Dr. Nhan and his office. (OGCDC) at Hue College of Medicine and Pharmacy In eight years, the artisans generated enough funds to in Hue, Vietnam. I suggested that Spiral Foundation help operate on more than 300 heart patients. This is why every item they produce has a little texcome to Hue to set up a permanent craft workshop, tile red heart attached that says, “Healing the Woundreturning profits to fund heart surgeries for poor Vieted Heart.” By helping fund heart surgeries, the artisans namese children. His response was a big incredulous laugh. Since I do not speak Vietnamese, I asked him are no longer “disabled”; rather, they are empowered to kindly arrange for an English-Vietnamese interpret- to give to those even more in need. They are not only er to assist in setting up the workshop facility and to in- healing the wounded hearts of heart patients, but also struct the artisans. His answer was: “You will not need healing their own hearts. In 2009, with the help of OGCDC and Spiral Founan English-Vietnamese interpreter, since the artisans dation, the artisans opened a retail facility in Hue, you will be working with are deaf.” My response was a Healing the Wounded Heart (HWH). This shop is enbig incredulous laugh of my own. A week later, I found myself in Hue, working with tirely run by the artisans, who are now experts in wela group of 20 artisans, all deaf or with physical dis- coming visitors, encouraging visitors to buy items, and abilities, creating eco-friendly gifts made from recy- accounting for their shop sales—including the convercled trash or discarded traditional Vietnamese textiles. sion of Vietnamese dongs to U.S. dollars, Australian Many of these artisans had never received any formal dollars or euros. In the first two years of business, schooling, nor any sign language training, and grew HWH donated its profits from sales to help fund 20 June 2011 1
Lê Thị Uyên Phương, center, laughs with deaf artisans An, Lan and Nhan at the HWH Shop. heart surgeries. As its profits grow, so does its capacity to provide humanitarian aid. The artisans are now no longer a burden on their community, but a precious asset to improving the lives of many others. Recently the HWH shop has expanded to include a small tea room and fresh bar, where tourists can relax and enjoy a cup of Vietnamese tea or a fresh drink. The shop is truly a special place. In addition to being a relaxing escape from busy Hue, it also supports a wonderful cause. The deaf staff are incredibly talented at communication, and are rightfully proud of their work.
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Discovering Deaf Worlds
Marichia Simcik Arese with a bag (made of recycled water bottles) created by the HWH artisans.
They are enthusiastic about explaining HWH’s cause, and accomplishments. Come visit HWH, a place of the heart. For more information about Healing The Wounded Heart Project, contact the founder, Marichia Simcik Arese, at msimcik@sprynet.com, or visit these websites: www.spiralfoundation.org, www.ogcdc.org, and www.hwhshop.com.
From 1998 to 2011, Spiral Foundation has delivered more than $800,000 in humanitarian aid to Vietnam.
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Leadership, Education & Empowerment of Deaf People in Pune, India friends to share the vocabulary they had Pune, a city in and explain what Maharashtra, Inwords meant to dia, is considered them. We discussed a hub of education. the developments in Despite its reputavarious Deaf comtion, Pune has not munities across provided any higher the globe, largely education facilities thanks to informafor Deaf people. It’s tion on the Internet a common situation and shared by Deaf across the counfriends. We realtry: Deaf education ized our activities Deaf students learning at LEED Pune. in schools for Deaf focused on certain people sans sign aspects of devellanguage, lasting opment, namely only up to class five leadership skills, or seven. The students are then integrated into regular education, and empowerment, and that is how we got schools where they have no special resources to as- our name and logo. sist in their academic development. LEED Pune has grown in the past two years from its It’s a tough situation for Deaf people here. We have inception with informal sessions to a full-fledged proa huge pool of extremely intelligent Deaf people who gram. We do not follow a syllabus or have any collabohave been hunting for the right platform for higher edu- ration with institutions to guide us. Rather, we work by cation. Integration into a regular school/college is very instinct; we discuss the latest topics and encourage unfair as there is no awareness about Deaf people in our participants to share information. We are currently the city. People do not realize that Deaf people need structuring the program to enable measurement of our sign language interpreters, and an accessible educa- success and failures. tional system that is visual and caters to their needs. During the initial stages, we tried hard to get the Experiencing the non-accessible world of educa- participants to come up and share whatever they tion, Mohd Aqil Hajee (Deaf) realized that he was not wanted to, but they were shy and lacked confidence. alone in facing these challenges. His friends and oth- Today, quite often, Mohd Aqil and I have to move off ers in the city were facing the same challenges. Mohd the podium as most of the participants have experiAqil and I (his hearing sister and an Indian Sign Lan- ences to share and topics to discuss. We have built guage Interpreter) decided to share what we learned a two-way interaction at LEED Pune. We see confiwith our Deaf friends. dence growing, thirst for education increasing and an LEED (Leadership, Education, Empowerment of interest to be more aware of things happening around the Deaf) Pune started off with small informal gather- us—in close proximity, and across the globe. ings at home. Deaf friends came over for an evening to At LEED Pune we have a strong team, which inchat about topics related to Deaf development across cludes four Deaf boys and me, who are working tothe world. Some information was shared by Deaf gether to bring about changes in society. We invite friends who attended the FrontRunners Deaf Lead- Deaf leaders from across the country to share their ership program in Denmark. Eventually we started experiences and discuss topics like human rights and discussing the need to improve our English language history. We have made an impact on a few hearing skills. Mohd Aqil then took it upon himself to share his parents of Deaf people, who now feel that it’s essenEnglish language skills with his Deaf friends. tial to use sign language for communication. LEED Realizing that our Deaf group had a very limited vo- Pune has also provided employment to five Deaf boys cabulary, we decided to build one. We encouraged our in food-malls across the city. This is an achievement By Atiya Hajee
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Discovering Deaf Worlds
Shout-Outs! Shout-Outs! Shout-Outs! Corey Axelrod: Thanks for volunteering to raise our social media presence. In just a few weeks’ time, you’ve helped increase the number of people paying attention to DDW! At right is Atiya Hajee, interpreter and co-founder of LEED Pune. for LEED Pune. It also has given our Deaf students an idea of how the professional world works and how interview sessions and trainings are conducted by businesses. We at LEED Pune believe it’s about time we brought about such change in society, and to bring the change, we have to be the change. Come visit us and encourage us as we lead, educate, empower right here at LEED! For more details, visit us on Facebook at https://www. facebook.com/pages/LEED-Pune/143735755685611, at our blog at http://signersclub.blogspot.com, or send an e-mail to leed.pune@gmail.com.
Lauren Bain, Shana Gibbs, Zach Handler, Maria Justice, Mohd Adam Mahadi, Lyndsey McGrath, Maria Nikolaou, and Lauren Searls: Thank you for putting in the time and effort to ensure a successful benefit! Ken Bain: Your generosity is deeply appreciated—our new PR materials look fantastic, and we have YOU to thank! Nancy Berlove: What a generous gift you have given us in honor of your birthday! Thank you for supporting our work; you have been so kind to us over the years!
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide
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Postsecondary Education Network - International
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PEN-International For Students Who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing http://www.pen.ntid.rit.edu
PEN-International is pleased to support Discovering Deaf Worlds
PEN-International is funded by grants from The Nippon Foundation of Japan to NTID Rochester Institute of Technology | PEN-International | National Technical Institute for the Deaf 52 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623 6
Discovering Deaf Worlds
Behind the Scenes of DDW’s Website dedication and drive from them both and the entire DDW team. I serve as the president I have seen the sigof WEBsolutions of New nificant differences DDW York, a web development makes around the world. and marketing firm selectIn my short time with DDW, ed to redesign the DiscovI’ve seen how much the ering Deaf Worlds website. team cares and how hard I joined the DDW team in it has worked. I hope to March 2010 as a web dejoin the team on a DDW veloper, and my goal since Journey some day so I the beginning has been to can help in its mission and provide a dynamic webWade Holdraker designed DDW’s new website. see firsthand the results of site that would draw more DDW’s dedication. attention to this amazing Another goal I have is organization. I have worked with the team to create the best ex- to use DDW’s website to help make its vision a realperience possible for people visiting the DDW website. ity. DDW and I are constantly working together on new This included easier navigation, a clean format, Ameri- ideas and finding ways to promote the website and the can Sign Language videos throughout the site, an inter- organization even more. I want as many people as posactive map showing the places DDW has visited, and sible to know about the great things this organization is doing for deaf and hard of hearing persons both in much more. Working with DDW over the past year has been an third-world countries and locally. If you have any ideas on how we can make DDW’s amazing experience. I knew immediately after my first meeting with Davin and David that I wanted to be a part website even better, I can be e-mailed at webmaster@ of this team. I am constantly amazed by the level of discoveringdeafworlds.org. By Wade Holdraker
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Did you know? • Vietnam is the largest exporter of cashews in the world, and the second largest exporter of coffee and rice. • When talking to senior Vietnamese people, it is respectful to avoid eye contact. • Denying compliments is considered polite and equivalent to humbly saying “thank you.” • A Vietnamese speciality is ruou ran (snake wine). This is rice wine with a pickled snake floating in it, and is considered to have medicinal properties and allegedly cures everything from night blindness to hair loss! • There are an estimated 10 million motor bikes in Vietnam.
DDW is off to Africa! DDW is off to Africa this summer! We will connect with over 20 Deaf organizations and schools in Kenya and Tanzania. Our goal is to learn from local leaders about the culture, history, struggles and successes of their Deaf communities. Making personal connections is a crucial step to identify organizations that share our values, preserve local sign languages and reinforce locally-driven projects advocating for equal rights, education, and employment opportunities for Deaf people. As we build trusting relationships with these organizations, we are planting the seeds for future partnerships in East Africa.We will also attend the World Federation of the Deaf Congress in South Africa. Want to follow our Africa tour? Tune into our website or Facebook page for regular vlogs; our first vlog is at http://bit.ly/mFCTie.
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive. – Howard Thurman
Deaf in DC
By Madan Vasishta Now on sale!
Follow DDW on Twitter! To order a copy, visit http://gupress.gallaudet.edu Fifty percent of the royalties from this memoir will be donated to Discovering Deaf Worlds. 8
Discovering Deaf Worlds
Our handle is @DDW_Team, or go to www.twitter.com/DDW_Team Newsletter services provided by T.S. Writing Services, LLC www.tswriting.com A Deaf-Owned Company
When your voice is no longer your own A commentary on the recent controversy about the recognition of Lingua dei Segni Italiana (LIS)
There is a silent battle going on as I write this letter; a battle over a peoples’ voice, their right to be heard, and the ownership of their language, which may soon be wrested away from them. Most of the world does not think about sign language as a method of regular communication, much less place it on par with spoken and written language. But as research has shown time and time again for over 50 years, sign language is indeed a language with it’s own rules, grammar, and syntax, whether it be American Sign Language, Chinese Sign Language, or Italian Sign Language. The Italian Deaf community has labored for years to convince the government to recognize Italian Sign Language (Lingua dei Segni Italiana, or LIS) as an official language. They were able to successfully bring a bill to the Italian Senate, but their moment of near-triumph was also where things took a heartbreaking turn. The bill was approved, with LIS retitled as “Language of Mime and Gestures,” or LMG. To demote LIS and label it a farcical method of communication is ignorance, at best. At worst, it is modernday colonialism; an attempt of the majority to subjugate a minority. Hearing doctors, speech therapists, and teachers have been telling Deaf people for years that we must learn to speak—we must integrate with the majority. And yet, time and time again,we have stated that we are proud to be who we are, a people of the eye. For decades, our voice has been drowned out by the of the majority, and those who think they know better. As a recent commentator on the LIS/LMG debate stated, if the government going to rename Italian Sign Language to “Language of Mime and Gesture,” they might as well rename spoken Italian to “Language of Moans and Grunts.” Language, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And as any anthropologist will tell you, language and culture are inseparably entwined. A language disappears off the face of the earth every two weeks, and along with it, a culture, its customs, and traditions disappear as well. If we start ushering languages to the chopping block, we are amputating pieces of our own humanity. In all of my travels, one thing has reverberated: you can’t stop Deaf people from using sign language. I’ve seen classrooms full of Deaf children in India who are
forced to use only their voices—and yet, as soon as they walk out the door, their delight at using their native sign language is profound. I’ve met Deaf people in Cambodia who were abandoned by their parents, and had no language and no hope—until they were found by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that taught them sign language, and then they blossomed. When I taught in China for 10 months, my Deaf students were thrilled to have a Deaf teacher, because even though we were signing in different languages, we could connect more than they ever could with hearing teachers. Every signer knows this: even though sign languages are different from country to country, and sometimes region to region—when you meet another Deaf person, often the first question signed is, “Are you deaf? Me too!” The strongest weapon in life a person has to wield is his/her voice, whether that voice is expressed through spoken, written, or signed language. The cry of the Deaf community in Italy has been heard— there have been protests from Tokyo to Berlin, from San Francisco to London. But they must also be heard at home in Rome, at the hands of the government who will decide their linguistic and cultural fate. As Victor Hugo famously said: “What matters deafness of the ears when the mind hears? The one true deafness, the incurable deafness, is that of the mind.” The Italian Deaf community and the global signing community has voiced it’s concerns, it’s plea that we not be diminished, trivialized, and eventually forgotten. I can only hope we will be heard. Davin B. Searls Executive Director 1 June, 2011 On behalf of Discovering Deaf Worlds, I express our solidarity with the Italian Deaf community in its fight to keep its voice. To support the preservaDavin Searls tion of LIS, sign the petition at www.petizionionline.it/petizione/ lingua-dei-segni-italiana/848. For more information, visit www.lissubito.com or the Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/kq4sHs. June 2011 9
Sustainable Travel Tidbits •
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Before you head out on your trip, unplug any appliance that won’t be in use while you’re away, such as computers, chargers, televisions, video game players, and microwaves. As much as 10 percent of the electricity used in your home is wasted energy burned by leaving things plugged in when not in use! Schedule trips in conjunction with festivals. Not only will you have a unique glimpse into the local culture, but by attending authentic festivals, you are more likely to support the living culture by spending money on food, lodging, and locally-made crafts. Pack light! Every additional ten pounds per traveler requires an additional 350 million gallons of jet fuel per year. That’s enough fuel to keep a 747 flying continuously for ten years! Instead of relying on bottled water, bring your own bottle. Water-purifying tablets and filters are readily available. Source: http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/sustainable-travel-tips
What is DDW? Discovering Deaf Worlds is a 501(c)(3) non-profit international deaf advocacy organization dedicated to empowering deaf and hard of hearing communities in developing countries. DDW strives to advance the capacity of local deaf communities around the globe to meet their social, educational and employment needs.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. – Lao Tzu Discovering: Shuktara was edited and co-produced by
For more information, visit: www.discoveringdeafworlds.org.
480 print, LLC 3446 Old Green Rd. Suite 204 Cleveland, Ohio 44122 440.781.2773 ksbain@roadrunner.com
Special Features Include: More stories from Shuktara, Meet Pappu and DDW: Journeys slideshow
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Discovering Deaf Worlds
DDW’s first annual benefit: Celebrating a year of success! On April 27, DDW hosted its first annual benefit to recognize Anita Pelletier and Michael Cooney of Nixon Peabody LLP as DDW’s 2010 Service Providers of the Year. With over 200 attendees and 18 sponsors, the benefit was a tremendous success! Special thanks to PEN-International, LSF Study Abroad at University of Rochester, and The Patrick J. Martin Foundation for your support. DDW is already looking forward to next year’s event!
An even mix of 200 Deaf and hearing people gathered at ONE Lounge for DDW’s first annual benefit.
DDW International Program Director Dave Justice with DDW board member Stacey Miller.
Master of Ceremonies Davin Searls gives away door prizes with DDW Associate Shana Gibbs.
DDW’s 2010 Service Provider of the Year
Nixon Peabody Associate Anita Pelletier, DDW Board President Harold Mowl, and DDW Executive Director Davin Searls.
To see more pictures, please “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ DiscoveringDeafWorlds. June 2011 11