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Round 5 projects:

Project:

Change the quality of life for deaf children in Yerevan (Armenia)

Recipient:

Havat Hard of Hearing Children's Mothers Organization

Summary:

Despite significant improvements in recent years, services for deaf children and their families in Armenia remain very limited. Deaf children often receive a poor education and develop limited language skills. Parents also find it very difficult to communicate with their deaf child. This project aims to address these limitations and provide families with support. Deaf children and their parents will have the opportunity to improve their sign language skills. Parents will also be able to access information on deafness, their child's education and well-being, etc.

Project:

Community Action Towards Equality for Deaf Children (Tanzania)

Recipient:

Musoma Engineering Training Programme for the Disabled

Summary:

The general lack of Tanzanian Sign Language skills among families of deaf children, teachers, professionals and the wider community often means that deaf children in Musoma have limited language and communication skills. This strongly affects their future opportunities as they face many challenges such as learning how to read and write, accessing secondary education or receiving professional health or legal support.

By establishing a deaf children's club and a parent, teacher and professional association, this project aims to bridge this communication gap, raise awareness of issues facing deaf children and strengthen their ability to participate in the social, educational and economic activities of their community.

Project:

Developing modes of communication, education and empowerment for deaf children and their parents (Philippines)

Recipient:

Cebu Association of the Deaf, Gualandi Volunteer Service Programme, Philippine Deaf Resource Centre

Summary:

Deaf children face many challenges in the Philippines which lead to low levels of achievement and employment within the Filipino deaf community. If deaf children have the opportunity to go to school, they often receive inappropriate support. There are no deaf friendly materials and awareness among teachers and wider community. In addition, there is no no consultation with deaf adults in the development of teaching methodologies for deaf children which leads to the disempowerment of the deaf community.

By coordinating the efforts of three organisations working with deaf children, their families and practioners working in the field of childhood deafness, this project aims to increase organisational capacity, develop models of best practice as well as appropriate materials for deaf children and raise awareness of the specific needs of deaf children.

Project:

Families with Deaf Children (Romania)

Recipient:

Special School No 3

Summary:

This project aims to improve deaf children's and their families' quality of life, by allowing parents to learn more about deafness and exchange ideas about and experiences of parenting a deaf child. The project will encourage parents to set up a registered association for families of deaf children in the Oradea region.

Project:

Fiji Deaf Hope (Fiji)

Recipient:

Gospel School for the Deaf

Summary:

Fiji is composed of many different islands. This means that families of deaf children living far from urban centres are often isolated and have very little knowledge of the needs of their deaf child. A high number of deaf children are not in school and often do not receive any form of support.

This project aims to reach out to these families and provide them with information on deafness and Fijian Sign Language as well as encourage them to send their deaf child to the Gospel School for the Deaf, the only school for the deaf in the whole of Fiji.

Project:

Health project Turkish Deaf Community (Turkey)

Recipient:

Turkish National Federation of Deaf Association

Summary:

Up until recently, Turkish Sign Language was not used in education for deaf children in Turkey. Due to the lack of appropriate technological support, a majority of deaf children and young people have grown up with very limited language and literacy skills. Knowledge of health related issues among young deaf people is also very limited and there are virtually no health related materials available in Turkish Sign Language. Young deaf people often lack the basic knowledge relating to their health and their bodies that a lot of people take for granted!

This project will work in partnership with schools for the deaf in the whole of Turkey to share health related information with young deaf people through workshops, videos and publications.

Project:

"Hogar Feliz" - Happy Home: Strengthening and Giving Hope to Families with Deaf Children and Teenagers (Colombia)

Recipient:

Filadelfia School for Deaf Children

Summary:

The Filadelfia School for the Deaf is a bilingual Columbian Sign Language / written Spanish school. Most deaf children at the school come from hearing families and it is often difficult for them to communicate effectively with their parents and siblings at home. This can lead to frustration, misunderstandings and, sometimes, behavioural issues.

The Happy Home Project aims to support families of deaf children at the Filadelfia School to improve communication at home. Project staff will work with parents and carers in order to provide them with useful tools and knowledge to increase family communication. The project aims to foster a positive environment in which deaf children and young deaf people can realise their potential and grow up to be succesful and self-confident adults.

Project:

Initiating an Education and Empowerment Project for families of Deaf Children in Cameroon (Cameroon)

Recipient:

Buea School for the Deaf

Summary:

When children of the Buea School come back home to their families during holidays, they are often unable to communicate with their parents. During term time, they increase their fluency and often find it frustrating to go home as they cannot communicate effectively. Parents, who receive no governmental support for their deaf child and have very little access to information, also find this frustrating. Many parents have expressed an interest in improving their Sign Language skills. In addition, there is little awareness of the needs of deaf children and their families among teachers and community workers.

This project aims to address these limitations by working with teachers and parents at the Buea School for the Deaf as well as including community workers from other community based organisations. The School will organise Sign Language classes and train Home Support Workers to provide information to families and support them in improving communication at home.

Project:

“Once upon a time…” - Story Telling for Deaf Kids (Brazil)

Recipient:

Associação dos Amigos e Pais de Pessoas Especiais

Summary:

Children love stories, fairy tales, epic accounts of faraway lands... They are a way for parents to spend time with their children and get to know each other, share values and traditions. This interaction is also key to a child's emotional development. Often, because of the limited ability of hearing parents to communicate with their deaf child, deaf children miss out on these experiences.

To improve communication within families with deaf children, this project will support parents and deaf children to learn Brazilian sign language from young deaf people through story telling. Parents will then share their experiences with other parents of deaf chidlren in the state of Alagoas, one of the poorest states in Brazil.

Project:

Participatory Photography Project: Promoting Self-expression, Self-esteem and Inclusion through the Creation of Photographic Images by Young Deaf People (Brazil)

Recipient:

Federacion Nacional de Educacion e Intergracao dos Surdos de Recife

Summary:

Young deaf people in and around Recife show very low levels of professional achievement. This is due to a number of factors such as the low levels of literacy or the limited number of services and resources for young deaf people in the region.

Through this participatory photography project, FENEIS seeks to provide 20 young deaf people with photographic training as well as stimulate their self-expression, self-esteem and critical analysis skills. The photos taken and produced by young deaf people will also be an original way to raise awareness and foster social change.

View the project's website at www.fotolibras.org

Project:

Software for developing functional and emotional literacy skills in deaf children (Croatia)

Recipient:

ProLingva

Summary:

Deaf children and young deaf people in Croatia generally have limited functional and emotional literacy skills compared to their hearing peers. This leads to low self-esteem, low levels of academic and professional achievement. In addition, there are no existing services to support deaf children to develop their Sign Language skills and emotional literacy.

This project aims to create, in cooperation with young deaf people, a bilingual computer programme, in written Croatian and Croatian Sign Language, aimed at addressing these issues and supporting deaf children to develop functional and emotional literacy.

Read The little deaf hero, an inspiring story written by Silvano, a 23 year old deaf man, for the software.