That is the vision and logo of Deaf Children Australia (DCA), a national non-profit organization based in Melbourne, Australia for the last 143 years. There are currently over 16,000 deaf and hard of hearing children under 21 in Australia and 500 babies are born with a hearing loss each year. DCA strives to enable these children and youth to realize their full potential.
Today a large audience of children, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff gathered at DCA to watch Christy present about Survivor. Four years later and on the other side of the world from The Amazon, Christy continues to be a strong motivational speaker and role model. Instead of the typical “what bugs did you eat and where did you poop?” questions, the DCA children were more interested in questions of communication and interaction with the other hearing contestants. They were brilliant!
The presentation led to our Discovering Deaf Worlds project, as we shared our vision to connect with deaf and hard of hearing communities around the world. Communicating through interpreters from American Sign Language to Australian Sign Language to spoken English, we explained how we are constantly adapting our language in each country we visit. By the end of one year, we will have had a taste of 15-20 different signed and spoken languages. Many people at DCA recognized how together we bring a unique deaf and hearing perspective to our project.
After a tour of DCA’s campus and history, we met with a class of students. They were fascinated to learn about our traveling adventures and how we came up with the DDW project. It all started with a shared dream to travel the world. We then challenged the students to come up with 50 things they want to do in their lifetime to follow their dreams.
The overall message today from DCA and DDW was that deafness is no barrier to do what you want to do. Thanks to DCA for your support and warm welcome to visit. We had a BLAST getting to know you all!
For more information on DCA visit: www.deafchildrenaustralia.org.au
3 comments:
That is so wonderful to hear about Deaf children with goals and such enthusiasm! I would love to hear more about the DCA and how it works! Two thumbs up!
Hi there and happy holidays to you both ... i 've enjoyed your pictures and find you both truly amazing. So wonderful what you've been doing these past couple of months, i'm really impressed! no doubt this is a successful adventure! thanks much for sharing your diaries... a great way to keep us posted!
David and Christy: Another wonderful newsletter! You are learning and experiencing so much. What as asset you are to both the hearing and deaf cultures. I am so proud of you both. love mom j
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