I arrived at Kansai International Airport on September 3rd, 2004. I was surprised to see the enormous number of people in the city of Osaka. The high buildings and the wonderful infrastructure impressed me more than anything I had ever seen in my life.

I studied Japanese language and sign language for three months. I also tried to improve my Japanese Language writing. Sometime I became confused when writing sentences in Japanese (hiragana) and it was very hard to memorize Japanese in my mind. I liked sign language because it was easy for me to understand. When communicating with persons with hearing impairments it became easy for me to pick-up/understand/catch the new sign language. I enjoyed learning Japanese language and sign language but I felt alone in the class. Now I can communicate in Japanese and sign language with the others.

I went to Niigata with other trainees. When I saw snow for the first time of my life, I thought it was beautiful and I wanted to touch it. I went skiing in the snow, but it was very cold.

At the end of December, I went to stay with Mr. Kazuhisa Murata with his wife and children in Fukuoka. For the first time I visited a home where a Deaf person lived. And then I went to visit the big temple with Mr. Yoshinori Maeda during the New Year. I really had a wonderful New Year with them.

Also I ate a local delicacy of Fukuoka Prefecture, cod roe seasoned with chili known as mentaiko, it is very delicious. I can eat everything but the one thing I dislike is horseradish (wasabi) that comes with sushi.

It was interesting to have the opportunity to experience Japanese Deaf culture and families. Until then I had found it easy to communicate with Japanese Deaf people, but I was confused because the Japanese sign language in Fukuoka was a little different from other forms of sign language I had learnt in Tokyo, but I enjoyed the experience very much. I would like to thank them a million times.

I heard that there are schools for the Deaf in Japan. I visited some of them and I found out that there are not enough teachers with good sign-language skills available, so the classes are conducted in the spoken language. I also visited the NPO Tatsunoko Bilingual Learning Center for Deaf Children. There, I was surprised to see that little children could communicate with me. At the age of 0-2 in the infant class and 3-5 in the kindergarten, they are able to use sign language very quickly.

It was a good idea that they try to include children of up to 2 years old in the program. These children are taken to school and see sign language everyday so that they learn the language naturally/gradually and very soon try to imitate the signs themselves.

I was surprised that in kindergartens for the Deaf , children between the ages of 3 to 5 were able to read and write Japanese. My dream is to see that Deaf children will be independent in reading and writing and also their daily living. The NPO Tatsunoko Bilingual Learning Center for Deaf Children is the one that provides the best education in Japan for Deaf children. When I return to Fiji, I would like to establish an infant class for Deaf children in my country. Because I am a teacher at the Gospel School for the Deaf, it is very important to create a good future for the Deaf children.

There are many ways to learn sign language in Japan. I did my training in sign language, in Sign Language Interpretation course at the National Rehabilitation Center for the Persons with Disabilities, the Setagaya Welfare Technical College, sign language interpreter courses in Kanagawa prefecture, and training course for lecturer of sign language interpreter in Sapporo.

My first exposure to the Sign Language Circle instantly gave me an impression that it was an excellent program. I realized that persons with hearing impairments and hearing people need to communicate and exchange views and ideas as a way of improving socialization. I think maybe hearing people should learn sign language from the Deaf and the culture of Deaf people too.

I was surprised to see that there were schools that provided professional courses for hearing people to become sign language interpreters including the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities and the Setagaya Welfare Technical College. I hope to create the same curriculum and textbooks for schools in the Fiji Association of the Deaf.

I learnt from the staff at the seminar of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf in Kagurazaka (Tokyo) that there are many Deaf Associations that have been developed and organized in Japan. I also saw that Deaf Associations are managed very professionally in Japan.

I wish to inform the general public about sign Language and issues facing the Deaf community. I want to make sign language books, because currently Fiji has no sign language book. So when I go back to Fiji, I want to introduce sign language to the public and also a Fiji Association of the Deaf should be developed as soon as possible. I thank the Japanese Associations for the Deaf for the information and demonstrations they provided.

Initially the other trainees could use only a little sign language but eventually they could communicate well with me. But two blind trainees could not communicate well in sign language, they could only show their names in sign language. Nevertheless, sometimes we had lunch and dinner together as if we were family.

I would like to say thanks to all staff of the Duskin AINOWA Foundation (Duskin Leadership Training Program) and the staff of the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities who always supported me during the training. Now I feel that Deaf people in Fiji can live an independent life and have an opportunity to experience empowerment and employment. Again, thanks for your great support and generosity.