Volume 6, Issue 3
March 2013 www.discoveringdeafworlds.org
An Interview with DDW’s Filipino Team from Mindanao (South Philippines) and Manila. During the meetings of Rey and Yvette with the officials of the U.S. Embassy – Educational and Cultural Affairs – Public Affairs Section, I serve as the sign language interpreter as well.
(L-R): Yvette Apurado Bernado, Rey Alfred Lee and Naty Natividad. To plan and implement the DDW EMPOWER Community Program in the Philippines with the U.S. Department of State, DDW recruited three active leaders from the Filipino Deaf community: Yvette Apurado Bernado, Rey Alfred Lee, and Naty Natividad. They shared their experiences to date in this interview. In your own words, what is your role with the EMPOWER Program? What have you been working on since we began? Naty: I am the Accessibility Coordinator in the Philippines for the EMPOWER Program. It is part of my task to make sure that the Deaf staff and participants have access to every part of the process and the activities of the EMPOWER Program in my capacity as a sign language interpreter and project staff. As of now, I have been closely working with Yvette and Rey as we prepare the Filipino Deaf participants to depart to the U.S. in May. I took part in the interview and selection process by assisting Yvette and Rey on translating the written interview questions into Filipino Sign Language and putting it on video. This will ensure that the Deaf exchange program applicants are given access to the interview questionnaires in both written English and in their native language—Filipino Sign Language. I have also assisted in interviewing Deaf applicants
Yvette: I am the Organizational Liaison, meaning I communicate with different organizations and the community. My role is to communicate with [DDW staff] David and Davin, as well as the Filipino participants. I also assisted in the development of participant criteria. With Naty and Rey, we promoted the program to hearing and deaf people, accepted applications, and followed up with applicants when necessary. Together we discussed the merits of each applicant and then divided up the interviews between the three of us. Rey: My role has been to support Yvette’s work. Any time she needed help promoting the program, getting in touch with applicants, and so on, she contacted me. I also assisted with the interview process, and we shared our selections with DDW and the Department of State for final approval. We had 38 applicants but had to narrow it down to 8 participants, plus 2 alternates! Many of the applicants are well-qualified and hoping for another opportunity in the future. What do you enjoy about your work with the EMPOWER Program? Naty: Working with the Deaf staff, Yvette and Rey and seeing that they are empowered in little and big ways through this project is what I enjoy. I also like that in this project, Deaf people take the lead and there is respect and collegiality between and amongst us. I appreciate how Davin and David mentor us on how to approach every challenge professionally, to keep open communication, and to never hesitate to ask for help when the going gets tough. March 2013 1