July 2008 1

Volume 1 Issue 12

July 2008

“I am sorry to say we cannot answer your question on how many deaf people there are in Nepal. We are unable to get such data due to the extreme difficulties of reaching deaf people in villages.” Hem R. Rai, Program Officer for Gandaki Association of the Deaf

Take a moment to visualize yourself growing up in the middle of the Himalayan Mountain range of Ne-pal. With glaciers and snow-capped peaks stretching as far as the eye can see and measuring 5,000 - 8,850 meters high (that’s 16,000-29,000 feet), the Hima-layas make the Rockies look like sledding hills. Yaks,

goats, and birds of prey are spread wildly across the landscape. Tiers of rice fields and suspension bridges with multi-colored prayer flags swerve through riv-ers and valleys, connecting small villages scattered along the way. These are the mountains where every true climber and trekker around the world dreams of visiting someday.

In these mountains, it feels like a transportation time warp, pre-invention of the wheel, where dis-tance between villages is measured by “how many days walk”: Chamje is a three-day walk; Manang, seven days, and so forth. There are no roads, only footpaths. Villagers depend on pack mules to car-ry goods from one village to another. Hospitals, schools, Internet cafes, and general access to civili-zation are scarce, if available at all. Connection and intermingling with the outside world comes mostly from local town porters making deliveries, or for-eign trekkers out to see the Himalayas.

So in an environment that already offers such extreme isolation, what is life like for a deaf per-son? There is no sign language instruction or deaf education available. There are no hearing aids or speech therapists. But perhaps most isolating of all is the openness with which parents and families are

Deaf Villagers Seeking Education

www.discoveringdeafworlds.com

What is DDW?

Dave Justice and Christy Smith are travel-ing the world to learn and share stories of empowerment, inspiration, and connection between international Deaf communities.

Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW) is an opportunity to give deaf people worldwide a voice. For more information, photos, vid-eo logs, and newsletter stories, visit www.discoveringdeafworlds.com.

VILLAGERS, continued on page 5

A typical village admist the Himalayan mountains in Nepal.

Suresh Shahi meets deaf villager Nani Maya Ganug and tells her of educational opportunities.

2 Discovering Deaf Worlds

After 25 years of service fighting for the rights of deaf people, Raghav Bir Joshi has been elected as the first deaf member of Parliament in Asia.

This is an enormous victory for Raghav, former presi-dent of the Nepal National Federation of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NFDH). His term with the Constitu-ent Assembly will impact many thousands of people in the deaf community throughout Nepal, Asia and the world at large.

Congratulations, Raghav! Keep paving the way to make the world a better place for deaf people. We’ll be keeping an eye on your accomplishments.Raghav Bir Joshi during

an interview with DDW

Deaf Man in Asia Elected to Parliament

Not only were Pramila and Devendra Shakya the first deaf couple to own a hotel in Nepal, but they were also the first deaf couple to marry in Nepal!

If you are planning a trip to Nepal and need a place to rest your head and lay your gear, support a deaf-owned business by staying at Hotel Metropolitan Kantipur. Located in Thamel, the heart of Kathman-du, this hotel is a short walk from Dubar Square and Swayambunath Stupa, two must-see destinations.

The exceptional friendly staff are fluent in both Nepali as well as English, and have visual language skills to communicate with deaf people. There is an array of travel information available to book outside adventures and the Shakya family can even connect you with a hearing or deaf trekking guide for a jour-ney through the Himalaya Mountains. Hotel Met-

ropolitan Kantipur is your Nepali home away from home.

For more information on the Hotel Metropolitan Kantipur, visit www.go2kathmandu.com/kantipur.

Deaf Couple Owns Hotel in Nepal

Dave, Christy, Pramila and Devendra Shakya at the Kantipur Hotel entrance.

On May 28, 2008, a 240-year monarchy was abolished in Nepal when the recently elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a federal democratic republic.

The most recent monarch, King Gyanendra, succeeded the throne in 2001 after a massacre conducted by his nephew, Crown Prince Dipendra, where sev-eral members of the royal family were shot and killed. King Gyanendra has not been well received by the Nepali people, especially after dismissing the elected parliament and taking full control of the government in 2005.

The recent overthrow marks the beginning of a new Nepal, since the Shah dynasty was the longest-running Hindu monarchy in history.

Freedom for Nepal

Nepal’s former king Gyanendra

July 2008 3

When was the last time you were served by a deaf waiter/wait-ress at a restaurant? Probably not recently…or more likely, never. Ever think of why that might be? Sure, deaf people might work be-hind the scenes washing dishes, bussing tables, or cutting vegeta-bles, but why not out in the open serving customers? Are server po-sitions, where customer interac-tions are a requirement, viewed as ‘hearing’ jobs? Is it because the restaurant business fears a com-munication breakdown will result in poor service? Or do they think that deaf people are just not ca-pable to hold their own when it comes to customer service?

None of this holds true for The Bakery Café in Ne-pal, where 25% of the employees are deaf or hard of hearing. First opening in 1976, The Bakery Café has since grown to eight successful locations throughout the greater Kathmandu area. Of the nearly 200 staff

required to handle the day-to-day operations of these cafes, 45 deaf and hard of hearing people have been hired into server or manage-ment positions.

The Bakery Café has become one of the most consistent and lu-crative restaurants in Nepal and their reputation for outstanding customer service is what keeps people coming back again and again. There is much pride behind the ethics of a business providing employment opportunities, and ultimately, financial independence to the deaf community.

So how about it, restaurants around the world? How many deaf servers, bartenders, hosts, and

managers are working with you? When given a chance, deaf people can do anything…and shine!

For more information on The Bakery Café, check out this online article: www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=10299.

Give Us a Chance, and We Will Shine

Deaf employees welcome you to The Bakery Café in Thamel

On July 23-Sept. 16, Discovering Deaf Worlds will be in Northern India, the final destination for this year’s journey.

*Blink*Blink*Blink* Replace Battery Already?!Colder climates can often drain a fresh camera battery down to nothing overnight. A total buzz kill,

especially if you are nowhere near civilization to charge up or buy a new one. So before you doze off, wrap your batteries in a t-shirt and throw them in your sleeping bag. Your body heat will keep them alive for those Kodak moments.

Safety Pins & LaundryPacking light for a long trek has its pros and cons, weighing comfort to stink as the days go by. When

you’ve reached that breaking point, wash a shirt with biodegradable soap then safety-pin it to your backpack. As you’re walking in the sunshine, you’ll have a clean, dry, zesty shirt by lunch.

International Travel Tidbits

4 Discovering Deaf Worlds

A Thank You to Our Sponsors

The Next Generation of WebSitesTake charge of your site

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Take charge today!www.sitebrandbuilder.com

Ralph P. DeStephano

add your

logo or

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website!

Contact info@discoveringdeafworlds.com for more information, options, and pricing.

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from 98 countries!

Donate to DDW by going online!

www.discoveringdeafworlds.com

Shakya Family…for welcoming us into your family, your home, and your traditions. You gave us an incredible peek into Nepali culture we could not have experienced on our own.

Philip Waters…for being our link to the deaf community in Nepal. We are envious of the work you do. You are a leader. You are making a difference. Go grab that Ph.D.

Terence Murphy…for your generous donation to help boost Discovering Deaf Worlds into the next phase. Thank you for believing in us!

Suresh…Every day in those mountains, you are making a huge impact on isolated deaf villagers and their hearing families. You show them all what deaf people can do. Thank you for your guidance in the Himalayas.

Shout-Outs!Shout-Outs!Shout-Outs!

July 2008 5

ashamed of their deaf children. “My daughter is deaf. She was a mistake from God,” was what one local villager told us.

During a 16-day trek through the Annapurna Circuit with deaf guide, Suresh Shahi, we met an isolated deaf person in nearly every village we passed through. We saw the same thing again and again: as children, they were deprived of access to communica-tion, which means as adults, they have no developed language, in sign, speech or written. Their families see them as a burden and don’t know what to do with their “deaf and dumb” son or daughter.

Suresh, who doubles as the president for the Kathmandu Deaf Association, has been persistent in learning more about these deaf villagers and educate their families on educational opportunities, such as the Sirjana School for the Deaf in Pokhara. While some families responded only with pity or humil-ity, many of them began to think in a different light. After all, for most, this was their first exposure to sign language and effective communication with a deaf person. “Why don’t I have that with my own son/daughter? I never knew that was possible!” was a common reaction. For them to see educated deaf people such as Suresh and Christy communicating fluently with a hearing person, Dave, was an awaken-ing experience, and they understood the possibility of fluid communication.

For the cost of 1,800 rupees/month ($27 USD), those families can send their deaf child to one of the 18 deaf schools spread throughout Nepal. Yet in the remote villages of the mountains, many deaf chil-dren are still unable to go for multiple reasons. Ei-

ther their families cannot afford the money on top of losing an able body to work, or their deaf child is already past school age. So many of them remain in their villages, oppressed, isolated, and without lan-guage development.

Recognizing the complexities of getting deaf vil-lagers into schools, the Gandaki Association of the Deaf (GAD) in Pokhara developed a trial outreach program. In 2007, with funding from Deaf Way UK, the Mobile Nepali Sign Language Training Program provided one sign language teacher and one moto driver, both deaf, to visit families with deaf children in the municipalities of Pokhara and Lekhnath. In 10 months, this duo connected with 355 parents, family members, and friends to teach them Nepali Sign Language and educate them about deaf culture. The total cost for this one-year program was $4,295 USD, a small amount of money to make an enor-mous impact.

With funding and success, GAD intends to con-tinue spreading awareness, education and language training in these villages, give hope to those who have been deprived, and show that deaf people can give back to their communities. They are also work-ing towards creating a database network of deaf vil-lagers to finally identify how many deaf people there actually are in Nepal.

A major goal of Discovering Deaf Worlds is to spread awareness about deaf issues around the globe. We want you to be informed of the unique challenges, as well as the responses happening in these parts of the world. Those of you who are read-ing this article have had the opportunity and access to develop a language. We hope you will pass it on. Share your knowledge.

Pack mules, the main mode of transportation, deliver rice on the Annapurna Circuit.

Deaf students learning at the Sirjana School for the Deaf. (Photo courtesy: Deaf Way UK)

VILLAGERS, continued from front page

6 Discovering Deaf Worlds

Nepal Sign LanguageIn each issue, DDW prints the fingerspelled alphabet of a visited country.

For more information on deaf culture in Nepal, visit the Nepal National Federation of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NFDH) at www.nfdh.org.np.

When the Park Ridge Hospital was built in Greece, New York, Ralph P. DeStephano showed us how one man’s perseverance could impact an entire community.

Ralph was an instrumental spon-sor to the startup of Discovering Deaf Worlds and loving grandfather to Dave Justice.

We will miss, we will remember, and we will do our best to carry on your legacy of community service.

Ralph P. DeStephano(1911-2008)

In Loving Memory of

Ralph P. DeStephano

What's a

Prayer Flag? A tradition of

Tibetan Buddhism, prayer flags repre-sent peace, strength, wisdom and com-passion. As the wind blows, the blessing messages of these flags are spread to benefit everyone.

Prayer flags are hung in high places and left to dissolve over time from exposure to

the elements of nature. Each color represents a differ-ent element: blue-sky/space, white-air/wind, red-fire, green-water, yellow-earth. New flags eventually will re-place the old, to symbolize how life moves on.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag

Prayer flags hang from a stupain Kathmandu, Nepal

The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life. –Agnes Repplier

July 2008 7

Pick up a copy of Buddhas In Disguise: Deaf People of Nepal, by Irene Taylor. As a customer review on amazon.com says, “A richly illustrated and knowledgeable por-trayal of the life, environment and culture of the deaf in Nepal, written by a woman who spent three years living and working with these forgotten but brave people. The book is worth getting for the photography alone, which is wonderful, but the photos are accompanied by a fascinating description of a people about which the world is nearly completely ignorant. If you are interested in Nepal, in foreign cultures, in ex-

cellent photography, or deafness, I highly recommend this book.”

It is common for male friends to walk •down the street holding hands.

A sign that says “hotel” doesn’t always •mean a place to sleep; often it is only a restaurant.

82% of Nepalis live on less than $2 •USD per day.

Nepal’s flag is unique with two over-•lapping triangles, as opposed to the

standard rectangular shape.A Nepali’s surname can tell you the person’s caste, pro-•fession, ethnic group, and where s/he lives.Each year, trekkers in Nepal leave behind 100,000 kilo-•grams of unrecyclable water bottles.Nepalis divide the year into six seasons: summer is re-•placed by pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoonAbout 90% of local Nepali people eat • daal baht (lentil soup and rice) twice a day, everyday.

Did You Know...

Buddhas In Disguise: Deaf People of Nepal

Newsletter services provided byT.S. Writing Services, LLC

www.tswriting.comA Deaf-Owned Company

Dave and Christy prepare for a return to India.

We have only two months left to make it back to the States and fulfill our year-long journey of discovering deaf worlds. If you have enjoyed reading our newsletter and are feeling generous today, please make a small donation to help us see this project through. We are living on a com-bined budget of $20-$25 per day in both India and Nepal, so donations of any size can have a profound impact.

You will be helping us cover additional project expenses we have for video equipment and editing, interpreting ser-vices, the newsletter you are reading right now and much more. Donations can be made online or by mail. To do-nate, visit www.discoveringdeafworlds.com

Two Months Left: Your Help Needed

The first condition of understanding

a foreign country is to smell it

–T.S. Eliot