1. View Hear Us - Youngsters 1
  2. View Hear Us - Youngsters 3
  3. View Hear Us - Training  Work 1
  4. View Hear Us - Training  Work 10
  5. View Hear Us - Training  Work 3
  6. View Hear Us - Training  Work 4
  7. View Hear Us - Training  Work 5
  8. View Hear Us - Training  Work 6
  9. View Hear Us - Training  Work 7
  10. View Hear Us - Training  Work 8
  11. View Hear Us - Training  Work 9
  12. View Hear Us - House 1
  13. View Hear Us - House 3
  14. View Hear Us - House 4
  15. View Hear Us - House 5
  16. View Hear Us - Youngsters 2

Hear Us!

Hear Us

Illigan, Mindanao

 

The city of Iligan stands on the border of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on the North West coast of the largest southern island. But apart from the terrible flooding just before Christmas 2011 things are fairly calm and peaceful.

In early 2010 we were contacted by Father Henri, who’s been in the region for a number of years. He told us of the precarious situation facing the area’s only specialized school for the deaf, threatened with closure for lack of funds and an absence of viable projects for its students.

Here deafness is a shameful condition to be concealed. Without the means to communicate, deaf people are often considered mentally lacking. Were it not for the energy and determination of Chay Haynes, who founded the school, most of these 30 young people would have had no schooling. “Why bother? They’ll never get a job.”

After several meetings and with the support of a number of key Iligan personalities, the LP4Y Management Committees decided to offer financial support to the School for the Deaf (12 children under the age of 17), beginning in June 2010 and until a specialized NGO could take over. This has been achieved, and Enfants de Mekong has now taken over the financial management and support of the school, and will provide financial security through sponsorship programs.

Life Project 4 Youth has therefore been able to concentrate on the over 17s. We understood that there were no opportunities for them after completion of schooling, and so we looked into the possibility of helping them create a data inputting activity. The Hear Us! Program was created in October 2010 and now involves 20 young adults. There was an initial phase during which we assessed their skills, after which training began to bring them up to speed. They now receive a weekly allowance to give them financial autonomy.

LP4Y volunteers work side by side with the Young adults on a daily basis, learning American Sign Language with the help of volunteer Filipino teachers.

And in the same way that the Green Program team members have their own place to live, there is now a Hear Us! House, on loan for a 7-year period. The Hear Us! team has renovated the house with help from a local company and financial assistance from the Air France Foundation. The team can now learn to live as a community, steadily progressing towards their goal of integration in the adult world. Thanks to generous donations from local companies it has been possible to create an IT network in the Hear Us! house, thus making the whole enterprise more professional and efficient.

“Since starting with the program I have matured and become independent.”

Julie Ann, 24

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