Right next door to Hannah's facility is the Siping School for the Deaf. Two of the students here are from the orphanage. Many of the others are children of very poor farmers in the area. Generous donors have provided sponsorships for these students, and we are very grateful. There are still students than need sponsoring, so if you feel so inclined, your donations are welcome!
Again thanks very much to the donors for helping out with these very bright children!
When I returned, many of the students recognized me! One in particular, a boy named Zhang, just ran up to me and gave me a big hug! We helped to provide a hearing aid to him in 2005 (see the blog post here - under "Siping School for the Deaf")
I had a GREAT time with them, and you can see my video with them here
I think you'll find the video very amusing. The kids were marveling at the presence of hair on my arms and chest, and then pointing out the lack of the same on my head!
We had such a fun time!
I do not know what it is like to be deaf, but I do know what it is like to have the absence of a sense. I am severely myopic, and without contact lenses, I'm basically blind. So I understand that there's different ways in which one can process information from the outside world.
When the school children came up to me, they recognized me immediately from when I was there nearly 2 years ago. They were so happy to see me, and this made my heart soar.
Then, they surrounded me, and began to touch me. The teachers started to scold them away, knowing that this is not "proper" behavior, but I told them not to worry about it. I understood that a lot of their world is tactile, or touching. I can understand this, because without my contact lenses in the morning, that's the only way I'm able to get around - by touch!!
It was so endearing how they were touching me, although I was a bit embarrassed when they wanted to see my stomach to see if there was hair there!
But they wanted to see all the things in my bags, and wanted me to empty my pockets. They carefully went over everything, just absolutely curious about every detail. I even gave them some of my hand sanitizer, which was met with great discussion amongst the kids.
I think you'll find the video very amusing. The kids were marveling at the presence of hair on my arms and chest, and then pointing out the lack of the same on my head!
We had such a fun time!
I do not know what it is like to be deaf, but I do know what it is like to have the absence of a sense. I am severely myopic, and without contact lenses, I'm basically blind. So I understand that there's different ways in which one can process information from the outside world.
When the school children came up to me, they recognized me immediately from when I was there nearly 2 years ago. They were so happy to see me, and this made my heart soar.
Then, they surrounded me, and began to touch me. The teachers started to scold them away, knowing that this is not "proper" behavior, but I told them not to worry about it. I understood that a lot of their world is tactile, or touching. I can understand this, because without my contact lenses in the morning, that's the only way I'm able to get around - by touch!!
It was so endearing how they were touching me, although I was a bit embarrassed when they wanted to see my stomach to see if there was hair there!
But they wanted to see all the things in my bags, and wanted me to empty my pockets. They carefully went over everything, just absolutely curious about every detail. I even gave them some of my hand sanitizer, which was met with great discussion amongst the kids.
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