Sri Lanka Presentation at DCARA
Posted in Uncategorized, 1 year, 10 months agoJust ten more days before I return to Ceylon! But first, thanks to my dear friend Jim Brune, I’ll be giving a two-hour presentation on my experience in Sri Lanka next Tuesday, May 6, starting at 7:00pm.
It’s at the Deaf Community Center, 1550 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA. This event is hosted by Deaf Counseling, Advocacy, & Referral Agency (DCARA), which serves the San Francisco Bay Area.
I hope you’ll be able to make it!
A Nod to Nigeria
Posted in Uncategorized, 1 year, 10 months agoI would like to highlight a wonderful blog written by a friend who is beginning a two-year Voluntary Service Overseas Canada experience in Birnim-Kebbi, an arid town in northwest Nigeria.
Christine “Coco” Roschaert has the luxury of having internet access at her Nigerian home, so she gets to blog far more frequently than I ever did! Like me, she has Usher Syndrome; in contrast to me, she has far less vision and defines herself as a Deaf-Blind woman.
For her first six weeks in Nigeria, two “intervenors” came with her from North America and translated everything around her into tactile ASL, and the three of them trained others in her village and greater VSO community how to communicate with Coco during her two years in Africa. She will be working with schools to develop a sign language and English curriculum for Deaf-Blind children, and making HIV/AIDS prevention presentations to Deaf communities across Nigeria.
Her bravery knows no limits! Here’s her blog: Tactile The World. If you’re on Facebook, look for her group, “Where in the World is Miss Roschaert?” where she has posted entertaining vlogs from Nigeria (and where she often posts her blogs first).
Essential Rice, Escalating Prices
Posted in Food, Sri Lanka, 1 year, 11 months agoI have often written about food in Sri Lanka. It was a delightful part of my experience there, and continues to be a part of my life even today. I sip Dilmah Tea (actually, I used to until we ran out last month), and I still can’t stop eating with my fingers every now and then (it’s especially useful for those last morsels of a nearly-completed meal!).
Chilies. Dozens of coconut derivatives. Mangosteens, wood apples, and rambutans. Dhal. Gourd and brinjal. Bread. Amanda Hesser of International Herald Tribune wrote a great article here a few years ago about the majesty that is Sri Lankan food. And there is rice, of course.
Rice is food. Literally. The Sinhala word for food is bath, which also means rice. To ask someone if they want food is to say literally, “Do you want rice?”
Which is why I have read with some alarm the news about the global food emergency. Sri Lanka, with its heavy reliance on imported rice, is extremely vulnerable as many other nations are. The World Food Programme (WFP) has identified Sri Lanka as one of the 11 “hunger’s global hotspots,” while the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) lists Sri Lanka as one of 14 countries facing “food emergencies.”
Some of the current prices for rice and bread listed in various news articles are astounding. A kilo of local rice in Colombo is now sold at Rs. 112. I vaguely remember it being around Rs. 50-60 while I was there. Food prices overall have increased 37% in the past year. The World Socialist Web Site reports that “the government has admitted that bread prices could rise to 100 rupees by the end of this year…” I distinctly recall buying a loaf of bread for Rs. 23, a nationwide price set by the government.
23 rupees to 100 rupees in less than two years? That’s like bread jumping from $2.00 to $8.00. No way can people living on the edge of poverty sustain their families with such unreasonable prices. I’m worried about what’s going to happen in Sri Lanka in the next several months.
Return to Ceylon
Posted in Uncategorized, 1 year, 11 months ago
This was the last picture I took of Rohana Special School before I left nearly a year ago. It was six o’clock at night, and as usual, the children and matrons were lined up, girls on the left and boys on the right, in front of the school temple. The boys had already placed a lit oil lamp in front of Buddha, while the girls offered a bowl of loose flowers and a cup of incense. Now, at that moment, everyone was standing, either sandals or bare dirt beneath naked feet, hands clasped together in front of the chest in mediation.
During morning assembly, the teachers lead the prayers in sign language while facing the students, but in the evening no one leads the prayer in sign as all eyes are directed towards Lord Buddha. So none of the children quite know what exactly is being said by the matrons.
One hour later, I was sobbing loudly in Fiona’s arms as the three-wheeler sped out of Rohana Special School, boys chasing after it, my heart shattered at the new reality of never seeing the children or my friends again.
I flew to and spent the next few days in Bangkok emotionally barren, dazed by watching the full fury of a now-foreign American Sign Language reveal itself through my best friend Bobby’s hands. I struggled to reconcile the cold stares of urban Thais with the overflowing hospitality of Sri Lankans; the metropolis of Bangkok with the rural Matara district; the gaudy-baroque Buddhist temples with the austere-white Sinhalese dagobas.
While it is impossible to have someone completely understand nine months in Sri Lanka, I have been blessed to receive visits in San Francisco from Anne East and Jenny Jones; maintain regular e-mail contact with Ginette and Sophie, Nerissa and David; endear to family, housemates, and friends who do not shy away whenever I introduce a Sri Lankan idea, drink, or dish; take a consciousness-raising course in Deafhood that has opened my eyes to the causes, processes, and effects of colonialism; and continue contact with many people back in Ceylon via SMS messaging.
I have ached to return since June 24th. Since then, I have moved to San Francisco, settled into a new city with outstanding housemates and have been working as a substitute teacher daily at California School for the Deaf in Fremont. I’ve been accepted to the ASL/Bilingual Education of the Deaf master’s program at University of California, San Diego, and will begin classes in mid-June. My parents have graciously agreed to host me once again (for the third time post-college, if anyone was counting!), and I’m looking forward to staying in San Diego for a long time, but not too thrilled about leaving San Francisco.
Before I do that, though, I’m going back to Sri Lanka for a month! You will find me back in Matara with my favorite children and treasured friends and colleagues from May 14 to June 9th, and then in Hong Kong for two and a half days to hopefully visit Pubodha and the CUHK sign linguistics program.
Unlike last time, I’m not quite sure yet what I will be doing there for four weeks. It certainly isn’t enough time to be teaching/tutoring English and Math. I had some grand ideas and was ready to raise money from all of you dear readers to make it possible, but now I’m rethinking everything and trying to ensure that whatever I do is what they want, not what I imagine they need. I will definitely keep you all updated on what I decide on.
In the meantime, the flights are booked, the travel insurance policy is set, I’m eyeing the Bombay Bazaar store on Valencia Street for some light clothes shopping, and I’m devoured daily by feelings of anticipation, nervousness, and wonderment. I cannot wait to return to Ceylon.
One administrative note: Several months ago, I had to switch to a different mailing list program to keep everyone updated whenever I wrote a new blog post. I lost 64 subscribers (99 down to 32) in the process. If you are one of those people, please sign up again by clicking on this link. After entering your e-mail address and the code, you will get an e-mail with a different link to confirm your subscription. Once you’ve clicked on that, you will be re-added to my subscription list. Be sure to let other people know about this, too!
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