Deaf Action

My Sign Preschool gives young deaf children the opportunity to start learning through play activities when young and this in a big advantage for them. When they reach school age they attend the Chiang Mai School for the Deaf and live in our Dormitory if needed. Our students progress very quickly and have achieved very good results at school because of their preschool learning. We also have a small Video Production Unit in Chiang Mai and deaf people train and work making CDs, DVDs, etc; for the deaf and mainstream TV broadcasting.

Deaf Action supports a Dormitory for deaf students in Borongan on Eastern Samar Island. Borongan has a population of about 60,000 people and Samar Island is known for beautiful black and white sand beaches. The teenage students who stay in our dormitory come from remote areas where there are no schools for the deaf. Most have not had the opportunity to attend a suitable school and are thrilled to have deaf friends for the first time in their lives. Our leader is deaf himself and the students share the cooking and housework. They are very grateful to have the opportunity to attend the Pilot Elementary School for the Deaf in Borongan.

Bacolod is a highly urbanized city of half a million on Negros Island in the Philippines. Sugar cane plantations are the major agricultural crop in surrounding areas. The Bacolod Dormitory provides accommodation for about a dozen students who live too far away from a school for the deaf to travel daily. They are lovingly cared for by dedicated house parents who are deaf themselves and understand the needs of deaf students who live away from home. The students attend schools or colleges in Bacolod that cater for their individual learning needs. We also have an Organic Farm and Piggery near Bacolod where older students learn farming skills to help them gain employment.

In what is called the Bicol area of the Philippines Deaf Action/ DMI owns and runs two schools for the deaf which incorporate Kindergarten through to College level. Both schools are situated at the foot of the Mayon Volcano, an active volcano which from time to time covers the school in ash during periodic eruptions. The schools are also in a typhoon belt and have been severely damaged. The main administration building has recently been rebuilt following destruction by a typhoon.

The schools raise their own rice and vegetables as well as sporting a rice mill, pig business and rambutan and calamansi orchards. Known as Fishermen of Christ Learning Centers the schools cater for about 140 deaf children and young people. Most students are from surrounding barrios or villages and some from distant islands too.

Kalay Immanuel School for the Deaf is situated in the north west of Myanmar in the town of Kalay. The school is catering for children from Kindergarten level right through primary school. With the exception of a few children from the town proper, staff and children alike are mostly from the Chin Hills of NW Myanmar. Instruction is in Burmese language and Burmese sign. Staff are a mixture of hearing and deaf people.