Volunteering: The School for Deaf Children (Part 1)

Dear Greensters,

 It's me Javier.  A couple of months ago, we went to a special school that is for people who cannot talk. They also cannot hear well. Both disabilities make them cannot speak well. They use a sign language when they communicate to each other. The name of the school is SLB-B Jimbaran - Bali. The school was opened since May 7th, 1984.

Mrs. Dede and one student greeted us
represented by Shirley and Chloe

Although they cannot hear and speak well, they still need to learn oral language because not all people can use or understand sign language. If we want to talk to them, we need to speak really slowly to make them understand because they "read" the movements of our lips in speaking. Some of them wear hearing aids in their ears so that they still can hear a bit.

Valerie is a fast learner

We learn that usually they cannot hear since they were babies. Please note that characteristic of babies who cannot hear are they don't answer when people call them and they always keep quite all the time. 

Mr. Agung and Dwi are fast learner

Tips to prevent us from deafness:

• Be careful when you clean your ears. Don't push the cotton bud too deep inside the ears. But, clean your ears every week so that the holes are not full with earwax. 
• See ENT doctor regulary every 1 - 3 months for checking up. ENT stands for Ear - Nose - Throat. In Indonesia, it is called 'dokter THT' or 'dokter Telinga - Hidung - Tenggorokan'.
• Don't use earphones with a loud volume. Use earphones when you really need it and use it in a normal volume. If you always hear a loud noise, your hearing ability can decrease by time. 

Communicate with deaf children through writings

We went to the school to learn sign language so that we can communicate with them. We also learn some shortcuts for sign language, for example: I, you, together, thank you and much more. It took only half an hour for us to almost master the sign language. You only need to remember and practice it regularly.


Tips when first communicating with deaf children: 
usually they can write. So, write some questions for your deaf friends and ask them to answer them in writing. That's a way you can communicate with them. Then, combine it with the sign language. You will become friends after that. They like to have friends. So, just be friendly and consider them as normal persons. 

We gave the Green Team's 'A Plate of Thanks' (by Olive and Valerie) as well as
donated some money to the school (represented by Shirley).
It was also a time to say goodbye to Valerie who moves to Malang city in Java island.
Thank you very much for all participation, Valerie.

Sign Languge - credited: SLB B Jimbaran

We had fun and made new friends with those students in SLB-B Jimbaran.

Best Regards,

Javier