Discovering Deaf Worlds

First Deaf Member of Parliament in Asia Selected!
Discovering Deaf Worlds We've arrived to Kathmandu, Nepal with a warm welcome from Australian Philip Waters of the Volunteer Service Organization (VSO). After greeting us at the airport and a quick stop by The Bakery Cafe where several deaf employees work, we were lead to our accommodation at the Hotel Metropolitan Kantipur which is owned by a deaf couple. The following day we visited the ...
Culture Fri, Jun 06 2008 hide this blog

Change of Plans for DDW
Discovering Deaf Worlds Hello friends! We are 7+ months into our travels of discovering deaf worlds and realize we are well overdue for an update. We are currently in Kolkata, India and originally planned to travel throughout this country for the next 6 weeks. However, there is currently a major protest happening in Northern India that may escalate with more potential violence. In the las...
Culture Sat, May 31 2008 hide this blog

Not Your Typical Mainstream Environment
Discovering Deaf Worlds After seven months of travel through six different countries, today was the first time we observed an environment where balanced numbers of future interpreters and deaf students share the same classroom. At Ratchasuda College in Bangkok, Thailand, the goal is hearing/deaf integration. The philosophy of this program has been rooted in bi-lingual, bi-cultural educatio...
Education Culture Tue, May 06 2008 hide this blog

Do you know who I am?
Discovering Deaf Worlds Last September 19th, a young deaf man was dropped off at the Deaf Development Programme (DDP) house in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. No passport, no identification, no documentation….and no language….no signing, no speaking or lip reading and no writing ability. He appears to be ethnically Khmer, but no one knows where he was born or where he came from or how he got to Camb...
Language Culture Wed, Apr 30 2008 hide this blog

First Impressions of the Deaf Community in Thailand
Discovering Deaf Worlds Within a few hours of arriving in Bangkok, we met a deaf womyn selling cell phone “I love you” ornaments for 30 baht each ($1.00 USD) on the Khao San market. Moments later, we turned the corner and bumped into another deaf womyn selling bathing suits to make her living. We quickly found out that on Silcom and Nai Lert Roads in downtown Bangkok, it is required by law...
Higher Education Language Culture Mon, Mar 31 2008 hide this blog

"We Share the Same Sky"- Wuhan Deaf Community
Discovering Deaf Worlds With only a 30-day visa in China, we were blessed to have visited so many cities. This meant several long, sun-up to sun-down days and overnight train rides, but worth every second to arrive and see how thrilled our hosts were to greet us. Our final chance to emerge in the deaf community was a three-day stop in Wuhan. With amazing hospitality, they showed us what C...
Language Art and Storytelling Education Culture Sat, Mar 22 2008 hide this blog

Yang Cui, raising the bar in Changchun
Discovering Deaf Worlds In a country where people with any kind of disability (deaf, blind, physical, etc) are grouped together, often left out, and provided with minimal opportunities, there stands a proud deaf woman out to make change. In China, deaf people are not allowed to drive. There are no interpreting services or interpreting schools, only translators who are often friends or fa...
Audism Culture Mon, Mar 10 2008 hide this blog

A Bump In The Road
Discovering Deaf Worlds On day two of our arrival to China, our video camera went kerplunk. After 4 ½ months of over use and abuse, bouncing around in a backpack through 5 different countries, it has gone to video heaven. Cannon HV10, you've been good to us until now....R.I.P. So now we are in a jam. dam. The formatting system in China is different from U.S., so buying a new camera here ...
Language Education Tech Sat, Mar 01 2008 hide this blog

Tsukuba University, Paving the Way for Higher Deaf...
Discovering Deaf Worlds The Deaf community is fortunate to have Tsukuba University of Technology (TUT), a sister school to NTID through the PEN International Progra. It is the only higher education university for both deaf students and blind students in Japan. Classes for deaf students are taught or interepreted in JSL. Therefore they can focus on their education fully instead of splitting...
Higher Education Tech Fri, Feb 22 2008 hide this blog

We Need Your Help to Connect in China!
Discovering Deaf Worlds Yesterday was met with mixed emotions as we exchanged our Lonely Planet book from Japan to China. We have had such an amazing time and felt so well embraced in Japan, but also eager to move on. So off to Bejing, China we go! Do you know anyone connected to the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community in China? Someone who works for a Deaf or mainstream school, organization,...
Tue, Feb 19 2008 hide this blog

Hearing Japanese Woman, Bridges the Gap
Discovering Deaf Worlds With only six weeks to explore Japan, so many locals kept asking us “Why would you spend a week in Kochi of all places!?” Kochi is a smaller non-touristy city off the beaten track from the ‘bright lights, big city’ atmosphere of Tokyo and Osaka. But it was the motivation, commitment, and unprecedented generousity of a woman named Koko that brought us there. Koko,...
Language Culture Sat, Feb 02 2008 hide this blog

The Power of Communication
Discovering Deaf Worlds Discovering Deaf Worlds has widened our spectrum. Yesterday we had the honor of meeting Hiura Shunsuke, an amazing young man who has a passion for inspiring everyone around him to live a happy life. In a time where negativity and violence take over the news, Shun offers a message of hope and “dai-jyou-bu” (no worries). Although Shun is unable to speak many words an...
Language Culture Mon, Jan 28 2008 hide this blog

Gallaudet Connects
Discovering Deaf Worlds Gallaudet University is truly well known around the world. It’s worldwide reputation is equivalent to the universities that US presidents attend, like Yale, Oxford or Harvard. Students and alumni should have pride in attending Gallaudet University. It helps in the long run. Whether you are traveling the world or just applying for a job, the name Gallaudet gets your f...
Higher Education Tue, Jan 22 2008 hide this blog

Arigato Sakai Deaf School!
Discovering Deaf Worlds When was the last time you jumped rope? Does your mom observe your classroom in elementary school? Do you know how to greet someone in Japan? The day after we arrive in Osaka, we were honored with the opportunity to visit the Sakai Deaf School. Before visiting the school, our friend Miro helped arrange communication accessibility. Japanese Sign Language America...
Education Culture Fri, Jan 18 2008 hide this blog

Help us make contact in Japan!
Discovering Deaf Worlds We are nearing the end of our time in Australia and starting to prepare for Japan. So far we have done a pretty darn good job communicating in New Zealand and Australian sign. But from this point on, we will no longer have English as a default language. We are researching on line for schools and organizations to visit, and recognizing we will most likely need to wo...
Language Sun, Jan 06 2008 hide this blog

Opening Day for Australia Deaf Games
Discovering Deaf Worlds After two weeks of working on wildlife and rainforest sanctuaries with the WWOOF program throughout the holidays, we have arrived at the Gold Coast. Queensland is known as the "sunshine" state, but is currently being bombarded with much needed heavy rains and the forecast doesn't look to change. The weather was no deterrent, however, for the 700+ people wh...
Culture Thu, Jan 03 2008 hide this blog

Freedom, Vitality and Limitless Potential
Discovering Deaf Worlds That is the vision and logo of Deaf Children Australia (DCA), a national non-profit organization based in Melbourne, Australia for the last 143 years. There are currently over 16,000 deaf and hard of hearing children under 21 in Australia and 500 babies are born with a hearing loss each year. DCA strives to enable these children and youth to realize their full poten...
Culture Wed, Dec 12 2007 hide this blog

Discovering Deaf Worlds on the move
Discovering Deaf Worlds After 6 weeks of coast to coast travel, 19 days of interviews, 15 hrs of video footage, and meeting hundreds of people involved with the Deaf community, we are wrapping up our time in New Zealand. We have been blown away by the warmth, generosity, and hospitality of New Zealanders both Deaf and hearing. We've been awed by mother nature's landscape of active volcanoe...
Culture Sat, Dec 01 2007 hide this blog

Vigil for Emma Agnew
Discovering Deaf Worlds On Monday nite, November 26th, Emma Agnew's body was found after being missing for 11 days. She had been suffocated to death and abandoned in Spencer Park, just outside her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. Local police quickly made an arrest of Liam James Reid, age 35, formerly known as Julian Heath Edgecombe before changing his name within the last five years...
Media Culture Sat, Dec 01 2007 hide this blog

The search for Emma continues
Discovering Deaf Worlds Today is day nine in the search for Emma Agnew. Almost 70 police in the Christchurch area are now working on the case. They are searching rubbish dumps for any clues (cellphone pager, clothing, or any other belongings) and will begin dives in local waterways tomorrow. Updates are found often on the front page of all local New Zealand newspapers each day. The com...
Culture Fri, Nov 23 2007 hide this blog

Looking for Emma
Discovering Deaf Worlds Emma is a young leader highly involved with the Christchurch Deaf community and works for the Canterbury Deaf Society. She has dreams to go to Gallaudet University. She has a wonderful supportive deaf family and circle of friends all throughout NZ. Emma was one of the first people we met in NZ with a warm welcome and has introduced us to her life. Emma...You are s...
Culture Sat, Nov 17 2007 hide this blog

Bye bye South Island, Hello North!
Discovering Deaf Worlds After three phenominal weeks in the South Island of NZ, we have crossed the sea (via the biggest ferry we've ever seen....10 stories high!) to the North Island. We have three weeks to go before heading to Sydney Australia on Dec 3rd. Today we had the opportunity to visit the only Deaf Unit of a mainstream highschool in this area to interview a teacher of the deaf an...
Language Education Culture Thu, Nov 15 2007 hide this blog

Accessibility of backpacker tour buses
Discovering Deaf Worlds For the past week, we have had the opportunity to tour a large part of the South Island with our 30 pound backpacks strapped on. In researching how to best travel through New Zealand, we decided to join the Straytravel.com hop on/off bus. Our bus ticket is good for a year (though we are only here for 5-6 weeks) and gives us the flexibility to hop on/off wherever we ...
Culture Wed, Nov 07 2007 hide this blog

A random act of kindness - the world coming together!
Discovering Deaf Worlds We spent the day interviewing, filming and interacting with the students, teachers, and staff at the Van Asch Education Centre in Sumner, New Zealand (look forward to our next newsletter for more details on our visit...sign up at www.discoveringdeafworlds.com) After leaving the campus SO full of gratitude from our warm welcome, we stopped by the local nearby beach to ...
Culture Sun, Oct 28 2007 hide this blog

Canterbury Deaf Club ~ Christchurch, New Zealand
Discovering Deaf Worlds Last nite we visted the Canterbury Deaf Club, the largest Deaf Club on the South Island of New Zealand with over 70 members. The gymnasium sized room is filled with a movie screen TV, hot food, drinks, pool table, and many prized possessions of the Christchurch Deaf community, such as bowling trophies, history, Club president photos, etc. With anticipation on how we...
Language Culture Fri, Oct 26 2007 hide this blog

We leave the country tomorrow!
Discovering Deaf Worlds We are on our way! In five days we made it coast to coast from Rochester, New York to Oceanside, California, with a three day stop through Colorado. A special thanks to all who came to our farewell fundraisers in New York and Colorado! You are sending us off full of support, inspiration and excitement!! You have made this moment possible. Today is officially our ...
Mon, Oct 22 2007 hide this blog

Discovering Deaf Worlds, New Zealand bound!
Discovering Deaf Worlds We did it! Our flights to New Zealand have been booked for October 23rd!! ...and so our journey begins. We will arrive in the heartland of Christchurch, New Zealand after an 18 hour flight, an 11 hour layover, and a 16 hour time difference. Phew! We wanted to send you a personal thanks for helping us get this far. Your individual donations and sponsorship [...]
Culture Mon, Sep 17 2007 hide this blog

Discovering Deaf Worlds Press Release
Discovering Deaf Worlds Rochester, NY, September 12, 2007 - Christy Smith, a former Deaf contestant on CBS's "Survivor: The Amazon", and Dave Justice, an ASL/English interpreter and Deaf advocate, are the co-founders of Discovering Deaf Worlds, an organization dedicated to promoting Deaf awareness globally. On the organization´s first international adventure, Smith and Justice will meet [...]
Language Education Culture Wed, Sep 12 2007 hide this blog

DDW Kickoff Event - Save the Date!
Discovering Deaf Worlds We will soon be having our final kickoff HOO-RAH! If you live in the greater upstate NY area, come on down to join us to learn more about our film projects with Deaf storytellers and community leaders. GIve us some last minute advice, share what you want to learn about other countries, let us know what you like to see reported back through our website.... We will [...]
Art and Storytelling Culture Tue, Aug 14 2007 hide this blog