Posts
We enjoyed having a team from Florida this month. They did a variety of things while they were here, including participating in medical operatives, one of which was in Sabana Perdida. While part of the team worked at that, our teens worked alongside their teens under the direction of other adults on the team, to build a much-needed storage cabinet, and do some painting at the school in SP. The teens also had the opportunity to strike up a few friendly games of chess, battleship, and connect four.
Later in the week, the team invited students from both Sabana Perdida, and CCES to go to the science museum. This was a special treat, and the kids enjoyed it a lot. We adults enjoyed just watching the kids having such fun. Afterward, in the courtyard, one of the team members showed the students how to make little rockets out of film cannisters, vinegar, and soda.
We look forward to their return next year.
The students are progressing in their studies. We have two classes at SP. One is for the students who are totally beginners--that don't know Sign, can't count, don't know the abc's etc. The second is all those who do know those things. This past month we've been able to move two students from the first classroom to the second. They are very excited to be with the more advanced group.
Our more advanced students learned this month how to find a Bible passage by chapter and verse. They are learning to read some simple verses, and they highlight them so they can find them again. These are very important baby steps. Several of them attend the Sunday School as well.
We made a trip to the annual Dominican Book Fair this week. Our SP students went along with the hearing students and teachers, for a total of about 100 people in a single American style school bus. The book fair is mainly a large book sale. There are vendors from Central & South American countries, and Spain. Field trips here are quite different from in the US. The children aren't nearly as closely supervised. Yet, when it was time to go, no one had gotten lost, even though there were hundreds of other school children in the same kind of uniforms. Any time we get out of the regular classroom is special. Twice in a month is unheard of!
This Friday we had another teacher workshop. It's encouraging to see that the teachers really want to improve their skills. We are also getting lots of requests for a Sign Language class, from parents, siblings of the deaf students, teachers, and people interested in deaf ministry. We have been trying to put it off until the summer, as there is so much going on. There are probably enough students for two or three classes.
Please continue to remember us in your prayers. The DR presidential elections are just a few weeks away. Politics affects everything here.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Book Alert!
Our beginners class in Sabana Perdida is showing progress. Yesterday I told the children a story with a picture book, Good night Gorilla. In the book were animals, and one was an armadillo. Now in the DR, you won't find any armadillos. I decided to fingerspell the word, rather than invent a sign, because I want them to know that sometimes that is the best choice.
When I finished the story, I asked who wanted to retell it. Almost everyone did! I chose Meri Luz first. She went through the story, doing an excellent job for someone who has only been signing for a few months. When she got to the armadillo, she spelled random letters. F-L-X-Y. I was very impressed to see her try her hand at fingerspelling. Her doing that is very similar to baby sign language, where babies wiggle their fingers to indicate they are spelling something. It's a good sign that she gets it.
The kids loved story time. Unfortunately, I only have a couple of picture books for that class. We really need to add to the collection. There are no libraries to visit here, and good children's books are very rare. Dr. Seuss hasn't come to the DR. So if you have picture books your children have outgrown, that are still in reasonably good condition--even board books--we would be glad to provide a new home for them. Let me emphasize that the books I'm looking for are specifically for the beginner group. They should be either totally wordless, or just have a few words per page (English is no problem when it is just a word or two.) The preferred book size is large enough to read to a group of 4-5 students.
We have a new teacher trainee. Well, we did have one for a day! One of the hearing teachers is out sick, evidently with something serious, so they pulled our trainee to go work with her class. Silvia will be working with the teens, if she ever comes back to us.
But we do have another one starting at the beginning of April. Her name is Julia. She has a deaf brother, but she does not sign yet herself. She is a Christian. She would like to learn Sign. She has a teaching degree. She'll be working with the younger class.
We are still turning away students for lack of qualified teachers. I hope I'll be able to fully train Silvia and Julia to be ready for the fall semester, but even so, we will need at least one or two more, if we are to avoid turning students away.
We are beginning teacher workshops tomorrow, to enable current teachers to improve their skills, and allow new teachers to learn the basics. There will be teachers of the deaf from several cities outside of the capital attending. We plan to have these half day workshops twice a month.
When I finished the story, I asked who wanted to retell it. Almost everyone did! I chose Meri Luz first. She went through the story, doing an excellent job for someone who has only been signing for a few months. When she got to the armadillo, she spelled random letters. F-L-X-Y. I was very impressed to see her try her hand at fingerspelling. Her doing that is very similar to baby sign language, where babies wiggle their fingers to indicate they are spelling something. It's a good sign that she gets it.
The kids loved story time. Unfortunately, I only have a couple of picture books for that class. We really need to add to the collection. There are no libraries to visit here, and good children's books are very rare. Dr. Seuss hasn't come to the DR. So if you have picture books your children have outgrown, that are still in reasonably good condition--even board books--we would be glad to provide a new home for them. Let me emphasize that the books I'm looking for are specifically for the beginner group. They should be either totally wordless, or just have a few words per page (English is no problem when it is just a word or two.) The preferred book size is large enough to read to a group of 4-5 students.
We have a new teacher trainee. Well, we did have one for a day! One of the hearing teachers is out sick, evidently with something serious, so they pulled our trainee to go work with her class. Silvia will be working with the teens, if she ever comes back to us.
But we do have another one starting at the beginning of April. Her name is Julia. She has a deaf brother, but she does not sign yet herself. She is a Christian. She would like to learn Sign. She has a teaching degree. She'll be working with the younger class.
We are still turning away students for lack of qualified teachers. I hope I'll be able to fully train Silvia and Julia to be ready for the fall semester, but even so, we will need at least one or two more, if we are to avoid turning students away.
We are beginning teacher workshops tomorrow, to enable current teachers to improve their skills, and allow new teachers to learn the basics. There will be teachers of the deaf from several cities outside of the capital attending. We plan to have these half day workshops twice a month.
Monday, March 3, 2008
A little of everything
We were very blessed to have two teachers here from the NC school for the deaf this past month. They were a great help at both schools. Jana worked primarily with teaching the students how to use the video camera, and making some videos of them. Mary Jo worked with individual students on cognitive skills, and gave me a personalized teacher workshop as well.
The audiologist is visiting today, to do whatever is necessary (new audiogram, earmoulds etc.) for any children who are in need of a hearing aid. There is a group that comes from the US annually, that provides this for the deaf students here in the DR. They will be coming soon, so all the preparation must be ready, in order for the children to be eligible for the hearing aids.
We are still suffering from a shortage of teachers in the school in Sabana Perdida, and turning away children as a result. Please pray that the Lord will send us workers. There are many more deaf children in the area in need of an education.
The church services for the deaf in Sabana Perdida have begun, headed up by Yulissa, our deaf TA. There are 8-10 attending weekly right now, which is a good beginning. They are telling me that they are learning a lot, and are enthusiastic about the meetings. A few have made professions of faith. This is the first time they have had the opportunity to attend church services in their lives, apart from the Bible studies which we offer them at school. This is a reason for great thankfulness to the Lord.
The Assembly of God has several small schools for the deaf sprinkled around the country. Many of the teachers are untrained, but have a heart for working with deaf children. As a rule, these schools are the only option available for these children. We are planning to begin bi-monthly workshops with some basic teacher training, to help support these schools. Our teachers will participate in attending and/or giving workshops monthly.
Many of these schools have as their main materials, chalk and chalkboard, and not much more. We hope to actually make some good usable, inexpensive materials in the workshops, so that teachers will take away a knowledge of how to make and use their own materials, without breaking the bank. We want these workshops to be very hands-on and practical, but not devoid of underlying teaching principles.
Our prayer requests:
The audiologist is visiting today, to do whatever is necessary (new audiogram, earmoulds etc.) for any children who are in need of a hearing aid. There is a group that comes from the US annually, that provides this for the deaf students here in the DR. They will be coming soon, so all the preparation must be ready, in order for the children to be eligible for the hearing aids.
We are still suffering from a shortage of teachers in the school in Sabana Perdida, and turning away children as a result. Please pray that the Lord will send us workers. There are many more deaf children in the area in need of an education.
The church services for the deaf in Sabana Perdida have begun, headed up by Yulissa, our deaf TA. There are 8-10 attending weekly right now, which is a good beginning. They are telling me that they are learning a lot, and are enthusiastic about the meetings. A few have made professions of faith. This is the first time they have had the opportunity to attend church services in their lives, apart from the Bible studies which we offer them at school. This is a reason for great thankfulness to the Lord.
The Assembly of God has several small schools for the deaf sprinkled around the country. Many of the teachers are untrained, but have a heart for working with deaf children. As a rule, these schools are the only option available for these children. We are planning to begin bi-monthly workshops with some basic teacher training, to help support these schools. Our teachers will participate in attending and/or giving workshops monthly.
Many of these schools have as their main materials, chalk and chalkboard, and not much more. We hope to actually make some good usable, inexpensive materials in the workshops, so that teachers will take away a knowledge of how to make and use their own materials, without breaking the bank. We want these workshops to be very hands-on and practical, but not devoid of underlying teaching principles.
Our prayer requests:
- That the children will come to know the Lord, and that those who know him will grow in His grace and knowledge
- That we will have the teachers and funds needed to maintain and expand the ministry to deaf children
- Electricity! We have had almost zero electricity in the SP school, and CCES has electricity only 2-3 days per week. As the temperature rises, we need fans, and it is very nice when we can use the computer to teach.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
All eyes
Today we took the deaf students from both schools over to have their eyes checked, by an work team of American eye doctors who were visiting here. Glasses were provided for those that needed them. Some kids were rather disappointed to find that they didn't need them!
I had the opportunity to talk with one of the doctors about our deaf-blind student, to see if anything could be done to improve her vision. He gave us a new Rx, as her glasses were not strong enough. Her mom told us that she had been told to have a procedure done about four months ago, but because it would cost 4000 pesos, she hadn't done it. (That's $130US.) The procedure will allow more light into her eyes, because they have clouded up. So we are going to see that that gets done soon. When she is full grown, she can have lens implants, and that will also make a world of difference to her. So all in all, it was good news.
Tomorrow, the hearing school that hosts two deaf classes for us, has an all-day-in-the-park activity. The kids are looking forward to this break from their studies.
I like the fact that the hearing children are going to get the opportunity to interact more with the deaf students. They are all very curious about them. They often stand outside the classroom and look in at the students, fascinated by the Sign Language. I shoo them away with a smile and usually try to teach them something on the way, whether it is a new sign, or something about deafness. So far all the relations have been friendly, and that is important.
Things are happening there in the administration of that second school, which could cause some changes for us. We are waiting for the dust to settle on that. I can't go into great detail here, but my one hope is that it won't mean moving soon. We don't have any conflict with the school, but if the administration changes, it is hard to say if they will still want the deaf classes to be part of the hearing school.
We do long for the day when we will have our own building, and all the moving will be over. Meanwhile, I'm taking advantage of learning what works, and what doesn't, in a building. When we are ready to build/get one, we'll know better what we need.
I had the opportunity to talk with one of the doctors about our deaf-blind student, to see if anything could be done to improve her vision. He gave us a new Rx, as her glasses were not strong enough. Her mom told us that she had been told to have a procedure done about four months ago, but because it would cost 4000 pesos, she hadn't done it. (That's $130US.) The procedure will allow more light into her eyes, because they have clouded up. So we are going to see that that gets done soon. When she is full grown, she can have lens implants, and that will also make a world of difference to her. So all in all, it was good news.
Tomorrow, the hearing school that hosts two deaf classes for us, has an all-day-in-the-park activity. The kids are looking forward to this break from their studies.
I like the fact that the hearing children are going to get the opportunity to interact more with the deaf students. They are all very curious about them. They often stand outside the classroom and look in at the students, fascinated by the Sign Language. I shoo them away with a smile and usually try to teach them something on the way, whether it is a new sign, or something about deafness. So far all the relations have been friendly, and that is important.
Things are happening there in the administration of that second school, which could cause some changes for us. We are waiting for the dust to settle on that. I can't go into great detail here, but my one hope is that it won't mean moving soon. We don't have any conflict with the school, but if the administration changes, it is hard to say if they will still want the deaf classes to be part of the hearing school.
We do long for the day when we will have our own building, and all the moving will be over. Meanwhile, I'm taking advantage of learning what works, and what doesn't, in a building. When we are ready to build/get one, we'll know better what we need.
Monday, January 28, 2008
January
January has been a wonderful month for us. We enjoyed the visit of a "two-in-one" team from Baltimore. About half the team were seminary students, and the other half Sign students from a Baltimore college. All could communicate in Sign. Their leaders, Mark (from the college) and Peggy (from the seminary) are experienced Signers of many years.
The children are always excited to meet new people who can speak their language. They crowd around, and ask with interest what each person's name and Sign is, and other pertinent questions.
The visiting team presented crafts, Bible stories, fairy tales, and just fun in general for our students at both schools.
The team brought an extra blessing in bringing a gift from the church of one of the team members. This was a great help. We were able to buy a much-needed cabinet to store our supplies securely. (We were carting them in and out daily with a suitcase!) It also is helping to pay the salary of our new deaf teacher, Yulissa, and for some needed supplies. We received ASL books, which we will use in teaching ASL classes for workers and parents. The deaf students are very interested in the books as well. Thank you!
The team brought in supplies and a special treat of some toys for our deaf blind student Alexa, to better develop her skills. Alexa is having lots of fun with them, as are the other students.
I joined the team on an out of town trip where we visited a children's home, and later a school for the deaf. The team was saddened by some of the conditions they saw at the school. We spent the night in chilly Jarabacoa. I've never been so cold in the Dominican Republic!
One of our greatest needs is for teachers. It isn't just a matter of putting an ad in the paper and hiring some more. It is very difficult to find qualified teachers. As a result, many schools must hire teachers without Signing skills, and hope that they will learn on the job from the children. This is especially difficult when the children themselves are not usually fluent in Sign, and may not know Sign at all.
We may need to consider a solution for the immediate present of temporarily using foreign teachers until adequate teachers can be trained. Please pray about this possibility.
Meanwhile, we are making plans for teacher training and workshops for this summer and January.
I have a couple of college students who are helping in Sabana Perdida classes from time to time. They are both in the process of learning Sign Language.
The church there is planning to begin a deaf ministry on Sundays, beginning in February. Yulissa will be heading this up. There has been no church available for deaf people in the area up till now. They will meet at a separate time from the hearing congregation, so that they may worship in their own language.
The children are always excited to meet new people who can speak their language. They crowd around, and ask with interest what each person's name and Sign is, and other pertinent questions.
The visiting team presented crafts, Bible stories, fairy tales, and just fun in general for our students at both schools.
The team brought an extra blessing in bringing a gift from the church of one of the team members. This was a great help. We were able to buy a much-needed cabinet to store our supplies securely. (We were carting them in and out daily with a suitcase!) It also is helping to pay the salary of our new deaf teacher, Yulissa, and for some needed supplies. We received ASL books, which we will use in teaching ASL classes for workers and parents. The deaf students are very interested in the books as well. Thank you!
The team brought in supplies and a special treat of some toys for our deaf blind student Alexa, to better develop her skills. Alexa is having lots of fun with them, as are the other students.
I joined the team on an out of town trip where we visited a children's home, and later a school for the deaf. The team was saddened by some of the conditions they saw at the school. We spent the night in chilly Jarabacoa. I've never been so cold in the Dominican Republic!
One of our greatest needs is for teachers. It isn't just a matter of putting an ad in the paper and hiring some more. It is very difficult to find qualified teachers. As a result, many schools must hire teachers without Signing skills, and hope that they will learn on the job from the children. This is especially difficult when the children themselves are not usually fluent in Sign, and may not know Sign at all.
We may need to consider a solution for the immediate present of temporarily using foreign teachers until adequate teachers can be trained. Please pray about this possibility.
Meanwhile, we are making plans for teacher training and workshops for this summer and January.
I have a couple of college students who are helping in Sabana Perdida classes from time to time. They are both in the process of learning Sign Language.
The church there is planning to begin a deaf ministry on Sundays, beginning in February. Yulissa will be heading this up. There has been no church available for deaf people in the area up till now. They will meet at a separate time from the hearing congregation, so that they may worship in their own language.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Visitors from afar
We are looking forward to a team coming in Wednesday from Baltimore. They will be visiting a local deaf church, a school in Santiago, doing some cultural studies, and best of all, spending three days with us at the schools in Sabana Perdida and Ozama, in Santo Domingo! The children are excited, of course.
School restarts tomorrow, after the long holiday. Dominican children get their gifts on Three Kings Day, January 6th, so they always get those extra few days off. Usually when school restarts after any vacation, especially an extended one such as at Christmas, the children trickle in over a week's time. By the second week, most everyone will have returned. Many of the children go to their parents' home towns, or out in the country for the holidays.
During the break the teachers came to my house for one-on-one computer instruction. We also purchased a much-needed supplies cabinet for the classes in Sabana Perdida with a donation that came in. I was able to get quite a lot of errands done, that are hard to take care of during school days. Our older emac is at the mac store for possible repairs. They said they would look at it, but tentatively pronounced it dead--as in not worth fixing, suspecting the power supply was bad. We are still waiting on confirmation, but very blessed because we were given a new imac the same week the emac broke down.
The weather has been very strange lately. It's been cooler than it has been for years. At night, the lows were actually down to 66, which is quite rare. We still have hot days, but when the temperature here gets down to 70, we all put on jackets!
We've also had an unusual amount of rain in the last few months. Rain always affects school attendance. Even the teachers have a hard time getting to school during torrential rains, because none of us drive to school. Many roads flood. Public cars (shared taxis on a regular route) often have broken or leaky windows and doors, and get off the road when it begins to rain, leaving passengers with insufficient transportation. The plus is that the temperature is much more pleasant during these bouts of rainy and cloudy days.
School restarts tomorrow, after the long holiday. Dominican children get their gifts on Three Kings Day, January 6th, so they always get those extra few days off. Usually when school restarts after any vacation, especially an extended one such as at Christmas, the children trickle in over a week's time. By the second week, most everyone will have returned. Many of the children go to their parents' home towns, or out in the country for the holidays.
During the break the teachers came to my house for one-on-one computer instruction. We also purchased a much-needed supplies cabinet for the classes in Sabana Perdida with a donation that came in. I was able to get quite a lot of errands done, that are hard to take care of during school days. Our older emac is at the mac store for possible repairs. They said they would look at it, but tentatively pronounced it dead--as in not worth fixing, suspecting the power supply was bad. We are still waiting on confirmation, but very blessed because we were given a new imac the same week the emac broke down.
The weather has been very strange lately. It's been cooler than it has been for years. At night, the lows were actually down to 66, which is quite rare. We still have hot days, but when the temperature here gets down to 70, we all put on jackets!
We've also had an unusual amount of rain in the last few months. Rain always affects school attendance. Even the teachers have a hard time getting to school during torrential rains, because none of us drive to school. Many roads flood. Public cars (shared taxis on a regular route) often have broken or leaky windows and doors, and get off the road when it begins to rain, leaving passengers with insufficient transportation. The plus is that the temperature is much more pleasant during these bouts of rainy and cloudy days.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
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