Getting Ready for Christmas There are no evergreen trees on the island of Bohol in the Philippines so having a traditional Christmas tree is out of the question. This means that every year the kids up at IDEA’s Bohol Deaf Academy “build”a Christmas. This year they decided to use a native grass and bamboo as the base materials. The students …
New Dorm – Maasin
Faith Chapel Volunteers from Billings, Montana transform abandoned building into a home for deaf children. Maasin City, Southern Leyte, Philippines, August 21, 2011 Hundreds of deaf children live in isolation in the mountains of Southern Leyte with no chance for an education because of distance and economics. There is only one practical solution to providing them schooling and that is …
New Low Cost Cooking Stoves
FIRST BATCH OF MAYON STOVES July 5, 2011 Perla Manapol (pictured at the left) is the president of an organization known as Sustainable Rural Enterprises based in Aklan, Philippines. Her fervour to help the poor and at the same time helping the environment is contagious. She initially infected Ambassador Benny Tan (pictured on the right) with the concept of stoves …
Computer Dream
The Consuelo Foundation has come to the rescue with not only new computers but also a whole list of e-skills modules for teaching vocational skills.
New School Year
June Sixth Marks The Beginning of a New School Year Each May we survey the mountains on the islands of Bohol and Leyte for deaf children who have never been in school. The survey only lasts a week and is carried out by the teachers. This means they spend many hours riding on the back of motorcycles into the most …
Christmas in June
Samaritan’s Purse Gifts for IDEA Deaf Students httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs114qH-Q4c The gift giving was probably actually meant to happen in December of 2010 but a 40 foot shipping container full of “Gifts in a Shoe Box” from Samaritan’s Purse got held up in Philippine Customs. With the final release of the container van, we got a last minute notice that some of …
2011 BDA GRADUATES: VISIONS OF TOMORROW
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9u44f3fmz0 Graduation is always a celebration for every student. It is a time when all of your family and friends gather and congratulate you with well wishes for the future. But when you happen to be deaf and a graduate, there is more reason to celebrate. In a country where deaf awareness is still a work in progress, not all …
Great Start in Southern Leyte
ON OUR WAY Recently, Dennis Drake, Founder of IDEA, and three staff members from IDEA Philippine’s main office took a 3 hour road trip and 4 hour ferry boat trip from Bohol to visit the one year old IDEA program in Southern Leyte. IDEA began working with the Department of Education in 2010 and there has already been a marked …
HEARING AIDS FOR BOHOL
A Better Fit Dr. Doug Clutton and wife Valerie recently returned from a prolonged stay in Canada to the Philippines after having previously spent many years working as missionaries with the Deaf in Manila. They have now moved to the city of Bacolod on the island of Negros and again are serving as missionaries to the Deaf working mainly in …
The lights are on in Bohol
Power Problem Solved As IDEA strives to provide employment for more and more deaf men and women on the island of Bohol, it runs into some unexpected problems. We are approaching the end of the second phase expansion of IDEA’s livelihood and income project known as Dao Diamond Hotel in Tagbilaran City. Through this effort we have been able to …