The search for Emma continues

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 community has strongly come together in support of Emma's family and friends. People are going door to door, posting signs, seeking any information. There are regular gatherings of 100 people or more at the local Deaf club. Counselors and interpreters have been provided and Deaf awareness is being spread thoughout the country. An online "donauction" fundraiser, set up by the Deaf Society of Canterbury and Deaf Association of New Zealand has raised $12,000 of the target $20,000 from people all over the world. To make a donation to help search efforts, visit:
http://www.donauction.co.nz/index.php?s=1&page=campaigns&part=55&campaignnum=abaedce83e4c0226a1c40319a615c027&cdon_brpage=14

To read an update article (Nov 24th), click here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10478094

Emma we are all still thinking positive for your safe return!




As for Discovering Deaf Worlds, we are nearing our closure of New Zealand. Currently in Auckland, we will visit the Kelston Deaf Education Centre, multi-million dollar Deaf Club building, the DANZ headquarters, and the Auckland University of Technology Interpreting Program.

Thank you all for your support.
Dave and Christy

Photo: Dave interviewing Kim Robinson in Blenheim, NZ
www.kimrobinson.org.nz

Looking for Emma

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 so FULL of life and laughter with your energy and contagious smile. We are all thinking positive that you are alive and well. Please come home safe wherever you are.

Emma Agnew, age 20, has been missing since Thursday Nov 15th. Her car was found abandoned and on fire. Police are searching for leads. If you have any information, please phone (03) 364 7400.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4275800a6009.html

To all who read this...send your prayers, healing thoughts, positive energy or whatever it is you do that Emma will be found.

To make a donation to help with the search and for updates on Emma click on the following link!

http://www.donauction.co.nz/index.php?s=1&page=home

We love you!

Bye bye South Island, Hello North!

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 and a service coordinator for the school. Although these students are in an environment of nearly all hearing peers, they have the opportunity to have an itinerant teacher from Van Asch Deaf Education Centre provide them with Deaf culture and NZ sign language to boost self-confidence and identity.

With a serious shortage of interpreters in NZ, the mainstream school have what are called "Communicators". Communicators are not qualified interpreters because they have not gone through the interpreting program in Auckland. Many have learned sign language through friends of the Deaf community or community classes to work as teacher aides/communication facilitators. Interpreters have had formal training and are often called to medical, legal, job interviews and other major assignments. The Deaf and hearing communities of NZ are aware of the differences between a Communicator and Interpreter as they strive to encourage more people to go through formal training.

Tomorrow we will travel to NZ's capitol, Wellington to visit the Deaf club and learn about the research program at Victoria Univeristy (instrumental in developing the NZ sign language dictionary). Stay tuned...

Accessibility of backpacker tour buses

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 want for several days at a time. We also liked the idea of meeting fellow travelers from Germany, Holland, Australia, Canada, England, Israel, Japan, etc.

Jumping from hostel to hostel and one small town to another, we have seen Mt Cook (the highest peak in NZ), Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, the NZ rainforest, Milford Sound, and a cave of the infamous glow worms. The Stray bus also leads us to tracks off the beaten path to learn about local Maori culture, greenstone (jade carving factories), hidden waterfalls, and why crazy New Zealanders jump from full speed helicopters onto the backs of deer to capture them live and maintain deer farms for venison exports! (Yes, they actually do this and we saw the video!)

Stray Travel (as well as Kiwi Experience and Magic Bus tours)...a wonderful option for seeing the country and all it's uniqueness. They keep you informed on bus schedules/announcements, and share fascinating cultural stories of the country along the way :)....it's wonderful....if you hear and speak English. Thank goodness Dave could interpret the talking. Our bus driver has never had a Deaf passenger before...is this because of lack of communication accessiblility, or lack of demand by deaf travelers? Do deaf people not grab these kinds of opportunities because of the lack of communication?

The Stray bus has been an exciting (and affordable) way to see the country. But to make this option accessible would mean gathering a group of deafies and finding an interpreter to join you! With voice-to-text on screen technology becoming more available, hopefully in the future we will start to see this system on tour buses. If there is room for a TV at the front of the bus to play DVDs, there is room to provide communication accessibility through voice-to-text technology. It is a right well worth advocating/fighting for to give the Deaf community equal access to unique and exciting opportunties such as Stray.


Photos:
Franz Josef Glacier
The Milford Sound
A swing bridge in the rainforest
The Stray Bus crew

Feeling bold to taste something new?

After a week that whizzed by in Christchurch, it was time for us to be on our way to explore the rest of New Zealand. We were surprised and touched that the friends we had made wanted to throw us a farewell BBQ party. Many people we met from The Canterbury Deaf Club, DANZ (Deaf Association of NZ), Van Asch Education Centre, and in the community came together to see the expression of two Americans eating Marmite and Vegamite! It’s made of yeast, sugar and salt and tastes like a soy sauce sandwich. Every New Zealander has Vegamite at home, and this is what kids pack for lunch instead of peanut butter and jelly. If you’re curious (and brave), you can try to find a bottle of this stuff at your local grocery store. Email and let us know what you think =)

We are now off to see the mountains, glaciers, rain forests, and pancake rocks of NZ on a “hop on/off” backpackers bus, hoping to eventually find the Deaf-owned brewery in Dunedin.