Cambodia: in the darkness, there is hope
Today we went to visit Deaf Development Project (DDP)headed by Fr. Charlie. In Cambodia, there are estimated 150000 to 250000 deaf people. Most of them isolated at home and never met another deaf.
Before DDP started in the 90's, Cambodia had literally nothing for the deaf. Fr. Charlie came in to develop a unique Cambodian sign language for the deaf people here. Currently DDP is servicing about 20-30 adult deafs in a two year program. Another NGO services about 150 children deafs. At DDP they learn sign language, basic living skills, simple reading and math. Some students commute 15 miles to school (imagine a deaf driving a motorbike without being able to hear the honks around, and in my first sharing I told you how scary traffic is here). 
After they graduate, DDP also refers them to other NGO(non-government organization) to learning working skills such as wood carving, mechanic etc. We went to one of the training places to meet Charlie's two former students. They were carving gecko at that time, when they saw us they were so excited and did lots of signs to express, of course I didn't understand, but could tell they really appreciated our visit. The place they get training is in fact a co-operative that supports disabled people, they sell the crafts made by the students/workers to support their life. There are many such co-operatives in Cambodia. Some of them even sell handicrafts online.
Before DDP started in the 90's, Cambodia had literally nothing for the deaf. Fr. Charlie came in to develop a unique Cambodian sign language for the deaf people here. Currently DDP is servicing about 20-30 adult deafs in a two year program. Another NGO services about 150 children deafs. At DDP they learn sign language, basic living skills, simple reading and math. Some students commute 15 miles to school (imagine a deaf driving a motorbike without being able to hear the honks around, and in my first sharing I told you how scary traffic is here). After they graduate, DDP also refers them to other NGO(non-government organization) to learning working skills such as wood carving, mechanic etc. We went to one of the training places to meet Charlie's two former students. They were carving gecko at that time, when they saw us they were so excited and did lots of signs to express, of course I didn't understand, but could tell they really appreciated our visit. The place they get training is in fact a co-operative that supports disabled people, they sell the crafts made by the students/workers to support their life. There are many such co-operatives in Cambodia. Some of them even sell handicrafts online.In the afternoon, we went to a garbage dump site serviced by Japanese missionaries.
I was especially proud to see first world country Asians helping their fellow third world brothers and sisters. The house near the dump site are no better than the ones we saw at the resettlement area(which was mentioned in previous sharing). We took some pictures for happy children. Wherever we see children they are always happy. The dump site is like a mountain big. I could smell it from distance. Many families coming from province to Phnom Penh without work skills will end up picking garbage. The more people in the family work in garbage dump the better their income, which is average $1/day per person! Kids are thus deprived of opportunities to go to school. 
The Japanese missioners offer the kids classes near the dump site. What a respectable work! When we slowly walked up the dump site, we started seeing groups of people working there. Truck loads of garbage kept coming. They basically pick recyclable things to sell. We were there at 2:30pm, the temperature was 37C (or 100F). With the overwhelming heat and smell and scene I couldn't process my thinking. I just felt that that was so terrible for them. We saw kids working there, we also saw an 85 yr. old woman, the place is like a grave for her. Even in that environment we still found sellers who sell drinks and food to the garbage workers. Forget about appetite, this is the reality, you work and eat to survive, or you die otherwise. 
We spend about 15 minutes there before we left. When I saw our bus, I rushed in to escape into the AC, but then I realized they have nowhere to escape...
I was especially proud to see first world country Asians helping their fellow third world brothers and sisters. The house near the dump site are no better than the ones we saw at the resettlement area(which was mentioned in previous sharing). We took some pictures for happy children. Wherever we see children they are always happy. The dump site is like a mountain big. I could smell it from distance. Many families coming from province to Phnom Penh without work skills will end up picking garbage. The more people in the family work in garbage dump the better their income, which is average $1/day per person! Kids are thus deprived of opportunities to go to school. The Japanese missioners offer the kids classes near the dump site. What a respectable work! When we slowly walked up the dump site, we started seeing groups of people working there. Truck loads of garbage kept coming. They basically pick recyclable things to sell. We were there at 2:30pm, the temperature was 37C (or 100F). With the overwhelming heat and smell and scene I couldn't process my thinking. I just felt that that was so terrible for them. We saw kids working there, we also saw an 85 yr. old woman, the place is like a grave for her. Even in that environment we still found sellers who sell drinks and food to the garbage workers. Forget about appetite, this is the reality, you work and eat to survive, or you die otherwise. We spend about 15 minutes there before we left. When I saw our bus, I rushed in to escape into the AC, but then I realized they have nowhere to escape...It was very depressed and sad to see human being digging garbage, they are not a group of scavengers, each one of them is an individual like me, have their name, personal feeling, dignity and story. I couldn't put the thought into any perspective. But then later the evening I started to see something positive. First, we human being are resilient, we always find a way to survive, even though a group of people end up digging garbage they still will not give up on life. Second, I saw another group of people---we the visitors, how weird to see a group of well dressed middle class foreigners end up in the garbage dump, all because they believe God is present among the forgotten. I begin to see some sense out of the dead end.
A lot of the scenes I described you may have seen them from pictures, but being there in person really makes the connection between me and the people. I appreciate you take time to read my sharing. I urge you to pray for the less fortunate, and pray for the courage to face the reality, and pray for God's guidance to be His messenger of Love.