This summer our teachers once again searched the hills on the Island of Bohol and identified 106 new deaf children. We held four orientation camps of which 57 of those children attended. To date we have 50 new students with 32 of them only 5 years old. This is the first year we’ve had so many this young, much to our delight. The […]
When IDEA teachers and staff scout the island for deaf children, it’s not unusual for them to find kids living in very impoverished and remote areas. This year, Ethel Sacro’s situation was particularly heart wrenching. Many of our students live in some sort of dilapidated shack but Ethel’s family had only a damaged jeepney for shelter. They’d been living there for approximately 8 years. Her parents
The rain is thundering down on the metal roof with a never ending throng of noise, and the air conditioner whirs away in the background making it next to impossible for the loud clanging of the alarm clock to seep into my consciousness. Once again I am late for an appointment because I didn’t hear
Excitement is in the air! IDEA’s students living in Loon have had quite a few challenges over the last few years. They have been through the trauma of an earthquake, attended school in a tent for a year because their classrooms were unstable, had their tent classroom blown down by a helicopter and lived with
Jarred into a new consciousness visitors arrive here in Tagbilaran, Bohol feeling like they just got off a plane that dropped from the sky, our very short runway makes for some very dramatic endings! Full of shock and awe they work their way through the throng of overly helpful attendants trying to assist them with
Everyone who comes through our clinic is impressed with what they see, including the level of training for all of the staff. It was on one of these visits from a group from CBM (Christian Blind Mission) a long time supporter, that we were given a grant to provide even more help to people in need.
One of sweetest rewards we can ever have here at IDEA is to know that we have trained our students well enough for them to be able to go out into mainstream business and secure employment!
So many of our students would never have the opportunity to receive this quality of dental care. Through the generosity of these dentists and the sponsors who so graciously pay for them to be at IDEA’s schools, they are able to receive not just an education, but care for their physical needs as well.
Here we are a year and a half later, blown away again by the generosity of CBM (Christian Blind Mission) who provided us a grant to rebuild each of the damaged classrooms for the elementary, high school classrooms and dormitory.
Sign Language is only one of the ways our students find their voice. Through art, dance, sports and vocational training our students constantly amaze us with their talents and abilities, displaying their hopes and dreams for all the world to see.
