On 31st August, 2009, I flew out to Japan for the first time. I saw beautiful sunrise and the sea when I woke up on the airplane. I held my breath. I arrived at Kansai International Airport and was surprised and delighted to see the members of the Duskin staff. This will remain in my memory for the rest of my life. During the training program in Japan, I was strange to the staff members and I might have been very rude to everyone because I did not know any Japanese culture nor the different code of behavior. But all the Japanese people were very polite to us.

I tried to study Japanese Language for three months from September to November, 2009. But I found it very difficult to understand what they taught and I could not remember anything because the language seemed to depend so much on Japanese culture. I think this was the reason why I could not remember it, but I tried to find out the way of learning the Japanese language and Japanese sign language. I had fun learning and experiencing it with teachers (Deaf and non-Deaf). My Japanese sign language lessons went more smoothly than my Japanese language lessons, as the sign language was my second language in the Deaf culture. I would like to thank my teachers for teaching me different things about their culture and tradition.

For three weeks, I had learned about and had practices on presentations in Japanese at NPO Japanese ASL Signers Society (JASS). It was very hard for me to give a presentation. It made me very worried that my signs were not very good because I was lazy and not too good with my signing skills. But now it has become a habit to work very hard on presentations. This is very vital and significant, and will be useful in my future to give presentations wherever I am. It strengthened me and I got better at signing skills. I would like to say thanks to Setsuko-san and Kumiko-san. They guided me a lot on my reports to improve my writing skill and to learn how to prepare the presentation.

I attended a one-month Group Training Program for the first time in my life. I came to know different types of disabilities (blindness, wheelchair users, etc). Everyone was very friendly with each other. I was interested in learning about different disabilities, what it means to be Deaf; --the subjects that are most important in my life, and for Deaf people.

I had wonderful days during my home-stay program. I stayed in Yamagata Prefecture with a Deaf family for one week during my vacation in December 2009. We communicated in Japanese sign language very comfortably. I went out with them and their friends, and visited famous places, which was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it very much. We talked about the Japanese culture, tradition, history, food etc., because there are differences between different regions. I now miss my home-stay family a lot.

It was very exciting to learn swimming for three months. I had to improve my skill. The next is skiing. I would like to thank everyone because it was my first experience to go skiing. I had a lot of fun learning and enjoyed it with my friends. We had fun throwing snow balls at each other. We laughed a lot. I saw very beautiful snowy mountains, trees and houses. It was an unforgettable moment. I would like to come back again and experience it all over again.

During my individual training program, I learned and experienced many things. I stayed in Aomori and Shizuoka Prefectures for one month each. I visited Deaf young associations, Deaf women associations, organizations for sign language development and materials, Deaf old people associations, Deaf schools and Deaf newspapers. Though they may be collectively called Deaf organizations, there were all differently organized. The Organizations in Osaka and Kyoto exchange information. Many Deaf associations are managed very professionally in Japan. It is really wonderful. I obtained a lot of new knowledge from the individual training, and the experience also made me wish more strongly, to fulfill my dream of becoming a journalist. It is very vital for me to learn. I would like to thank Japanese Federation of the Deaf, Tsukuba University of Technology, JASS, Aomori teams and Shizuoka teams from the bottom of my heart.

I can involve my friends in meetings and discussions and together we can work on the same goal, to brighten their and others future.

“Where there is a will there is a way”

1. To set up Deaf Newspapers, magazines and Deaf news
2. To support Deaf Young Association
3. To support Deaf Women Association

My dream is to set up a new company of Deaf News, Newspaper etc in Mumbai City (Maharashtra State) after two or three years, because there is no any information, associations, awareness, education, knowledge etc for the Deaf in India. I have to discuss with my friends teams and other people also. With this project, we aim to have Deaf News Company’s activities prevailing in all states of India in five years time.

Going forward, I would like to support Deaf Young Associations and Deaf Women Association. I will have to give all information they need for help and volunteering.

I would like to say thanks to Duskin AINOWA Foundation, JSRPD, all other Japanese organizations, and my good Japanese friends.