Volunteering from Deaf hearts: Deaf, We are One and Many.

"Ask not what your Deaf Community can do for you; ask what you can do for your Deaf Community."


Reading the request of Mishka Zena's about what one have done for the Deaf community, I was thinking, 'that's a splendid idea! To show how much we have done for the community, instead of pulling each other down." I had thought long and hard, and I did not want to sound I was bragging or to put the spotlight on each individual. What I would like to do is to show individuals, not just me, doing much for the community.


1) When the hurricane Katrina hit, many of us, I'm sure, had been wondering how the New Orleans Deaf community were doing and if they were all right. The Baton Rogue school for the deaf had promptly opened their rooms for families with and without children. Local interpreters of Texas and Louisiana fought to put out awareness of what the deaf community had gone through, especially with lack of communication. I still vividly remember when someone had sent out a false list of who had died- I contacted the correct contact working with Red Cross to find out and gave out the proper list of who had survived and where they had ended up at. Gallaudet had fought in convincing the Red Cross that the deaf community needed mental health help. The university finally got the permission to send mental health counselors, social workers and child psychologists who can sign. I alerted the Colorado Deaf community (and others who had forwarded the request list to other friends out of state) about donations of necessities to deaf survivors who had lost everything, such as dishes, books, TTYs, children clothes, children toys, sheets, kitchen needs, and so on, in which so many had donated, including from a school program with deaf students donating books, a NJ family sending a TTY, a CA individual sending a check, several interpreters with kitchen needs, a comic book store donating comics for children. And all those individuals I listed, had volunteered, and did it from their hearts and belief in the Deaf community.

2) Many of us have done volunteer advocates for deaf programs dealing with domestic violence. Several of us had known the risks of meeting survivors, knowing there was a chance of encountering the abuser or seeing things that we couldn't easily forget. We worked with survivors on developing self esteem and motivation to escape the chains of physical, verbal, sexual and/or emotional abuse. To protect the safety of deaf survivors and the volunteer advocates, one could not identify the deaf volunteers, but one cannot deny that the volunteers did all that with determination and perseverance with the belief that the Deaf women and children have the right to be safe as well as the hearing community.

3) Due to limited access and/or limited funds, much of the Deaf community had not gotten appropriate information to HIV/AIDS and STDS (sexually transmitted diseases). In past, there had been several programs working with the Deaf community- unfortunately either due to mistreatment of finances or the assumption that "others" can help out, programs had closed down. There are so few, several on both coasts and one or two in the Midwest- that's not enough, not even close. As an unpaid volunteer, I had attended trainings provided by the Technical Assistance and Training Program of Colorado department of public health along with a friend who too wanted to provide educational tools for the Deaf community. I had worked with clients living with HIV+. I had worked with groups discussing about safe sex and how to protect themselves, and that's not even close to what programs have done for the Deaf community. DeafHope, GLAD (with HIV Prevention and HIV Interpreting program), Chicago Foundation for Deaf and other programs had fought to keep their programs running. We all believe that the Deaf community have the right to information, and the right to decide how to handle their health, with full awareness.

4) For me, I have been doing a blog in goal of helping the Deaf community get information that may be of benefit. I know that I do not write much often as other bloggers. My education demands a lot of me at this time, however I try to make time to ensure that if there is a need for information, I will put it out.

5) And oh yeah, I am working on becoming a mental health counselor, to work with Deaf and hh individuals, families and groups, who can then create the tools they need to handle their own lives and develop confidence. Before returning to school, I had worked with deaf individuals at groups, in their goals of becoming independent, getting and keeping a job, raising children properly and safely, advocating for their rights to access and communication, and encouraging the public to respect the person's right to decision-making instead of taking over their lives. I speak for myself- I don't believe in leading one by the hand, doing things myself. I believe that individuals can be successful by themselves once they learn how to help themselves and the families/friends around them.


I could go on and on, but I bet that the folks can speak up for themselves on what they have done and are still doing for the Deaf community. What about you? I want to end this with:


"Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." - Barack Obama