“TLC”—and job training—sets up deaf students for success

MISSIONER NEWSLETTER – Fall 2024

Julie Lawler, Cambodia

A 2003 class picture of V Sron, now an alum of the Deaf Development Programme. (V Sron is in the first row wearing tan pants.) 

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA—As one of the five core values of Maryknoll Lay Missioners, inclusion is at the core of our daily work at the Deaf Development Programme (DDP), which strives to empower deaf people, develop their education and employment, and raise awareness and understanding of deafness and deaf people. 

In fact, inclusion is in the DDP’s vision statement, which says we are working toward creating a space where “deaf people are accepted, respected, and included as equals in all aspects of Cambodian society.”

Over the past four years, while working with DDP, I have been able to see how the deaf students have moved on after completing their programming at DDP, and I get to learn what they are currently doing when they return for events or check in with staff over video calls.

“A disability does not have to be a social barrier.

Good etiquette begins with inclusion, not exclusion” 

– Robert M. Hansel

V Sron currently runs a small bakery with his wife, and last year attended a barista training hosted by DDP with Bon Cafe. (V Sron, center, wearing a white shirt.)

Last year, at a coffee barista training that DDP was hosting with Bon Café, I met an alum named V Sron. 

Sron was one of the deaf community members that came for the two-day training since he wanted to learn more skills on how to make coffee for his local shop with the hope it could help his business in the future. 

V Sron also got to catch up with Thuch Sophy, his teacher during his time when he was in basic education classes at DDP.

Sophy said, “Sron was one of those stories that I wanted to share in the Missioner Newsletter when Julie mentioned the topic was about inclusion. He started at DDP almost 20 years ago when he was my student. He was smart and kind. I always saw him sharing with others and helping other classmates. Over the years, we stayed in touch and he sends me videos of updates, usually of him baking and making various breads and cakes.”

During their most recent visit together, Sron shared with Sophy how he is running a small bakery with his wife, and how he makes croissants. “He tells me they are very delicious,” she said. 

“It is amazing for me to look back and remember his time at DDP and to see how far he has come. When I saw some old pictures of my time teaching Sron in the classroom, it brought back so many memories,” she said.

Sophy is happy thinking back and seeing the transformative ways her previous students grow with a little TLC. 

TLC for our students means giving deaf people a space where we listen, support, and give them time to share their needs, wants, and desires, which is not always the case at home.  

Inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists;

It is making a new space, a better space for everyone

– George Dei

At DDP, our job training students get the opportunity to work with local businesses, shops, and trade schools. 

It is the project manager’s responsibility to build up relationships with the possible local job sites and work with the owners in the hopes that they gain more understanding of how to work with and “include” a deaf person into their training program.

The project manager has regular check-ins to see how the training was going and if any problems need to be worked out between the staff and the DDP job training students.

We have to open the minds of society to a new way of thinking and show them that it is possible for a deaf person to gain those skills they once thought were unattainable.  

The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind.

– Marlee Matlin

Sron is one of many stories that DDP can share as an example of how inclusion opens up opportunities for deaf people.

There are still hardships and discrimination, but in small ways change is happening at the local level and on a human level. We celebrate these small victories in the hopes that bigger victories will be won in the future so that deaf people can enter into a new space where everyone has the same human rights. A space where they can be welcomed with open arms into Cambodian society along with other people with disabilities.

Please consider supporting my mission work at the Deaf Development Programme with a donation through the link below.

I invite you to walk with me as a “COMPANION IN MISSION.” Companions in Mission are friends and generous donors who give financial gifts on a regular (usually monthly) basis. For more information, visit Become a Companion in Mission. Thank you so much for your generosity!