Because it's the right thing to do

Leonel (left) is the president of the "Asociacion De Desarrollo de Sordos" Thelmy is the chief interpreter. They lead an adult deaf education class on Saturdays.


They often have to scrape up money for bus fare since many of the deaf are isolated in rural villages. Everyone have a great time when they get together. After all, they probably don't have anybody to talk to in their villages.

Part of their outreach is to find the deaf in the countryside because they are often discarded and abused. One was found living under a house.

On another occasion, they showed me a video on their phone of someone trying to talk/sign to a homeless deaf man, but it appears that he had never learned any language and had never been approached in a compassionate and communicative way in his working memory.

The Deaf in this association often express how lucky they are and how important education is for them. They never forget those who haven't had this chance and are ever reminded of what life is like without being treated with dignity. That's where their strength comes from. They have a community like no other.