Duskin Leadership Training in Japan

Wai's Final Report

What I learned in Japan

Hello, my name is Naw San Htar Wai. I am one of the trainees of the 22nd Duskin Leadership Training Program. People call me Wai because my name is so long. I am from Myanmar. I teach Burmese Sign Language at a deaf school in Yangon. There are 4 people in my family: my parents and sister, and myself. My family are all hearing but me. I am the only deaf person in my family.

Deaf people in Myanmar face issues arising from communication problems

My parents and my sister can use sign language a little bit. But sign language is hardly used for communication in our family. I have never heard of a deaf person with hearing parents using sign language to communicate. Meaning, the deaf person in the family almost gets no communication or information in the family.

Furthermore, as most deaf people do not thoroughly learn written Burmese, they usually do not understand even when others try to communicate with them using written Burmese. This becomes a big barrier when deaf people in Myanmar step into society, and when they try looking for jobs.

In Japan, I saw families with deaf children smoothly communicating in Japanese Sign Language. Children at deaf schools were also learning how to read and write Japanese extremely smoothly. This means that even when they leave school and join society, finding jobs, they will be able to communicate with hearing people using written Japanese. Also, in Japan, if a deaf person needs to communicate with a hearing person without resorting to written language, a sign language interpreter can be arranged. I would like to introduce these good practices of Japan to deaf communities in Myanmar.

The reason I wanted to come to Japan

I had always felt that there was less vocabulary in Burmese Sign Language than in Burmese. I have wanted to expand Burmese sign language vocabulary to enable deaf people to express themselves in sign language just as fully as in speech, and to write a book on the vocabulary. I also wanted to learn how to teach Japanese Sign Language in Japan so that I could teach deaf children in Myanmar Burmese sign language more effectively. I also wanted to learn how deaf adults could learn written language in Japan and help deaf adults in Myanmar learn written Burmese.

There three points are extremely important to me, that’s why I applied to Duskin Training program and then, came to Japan.

What I learned in individual training

At Deaf Net. KAGOSHIMA, I learned about three projects.

The first one was an afterschool day service project called Deaf Kids. The idea was to create a space for deaf children to spend time after school, until their parents came home to prevent the children from being alone. I saw Deaf Kids provide information to children in ways the children could understand, and the space was also serving as a place for the children to learn public rules and manners through various activities.

There are deaf children in Myanmar in similar situations, but there is no place for them like where they can get information and learn public rules etc. I would like to report to deaf communities in Myanmar how important such places are.

The second project was conducted at Budo-no-Ki(meaning of Tree of grapes), an employment project for elderly deaf people and for deaf people with intellectual disabilities. Budo-no-Ki provided a place for deaf people to work in and get paid, making and selling handicrafts and assembling boxes, instead of just being in care by their family members. What I liked about this place was the people working and also actively communicating with each other. In Myanmar, elderly deaf people tend to stay home. There is no place for them to work like this. I would like to create a place like this in Myanmar.

The third place I visited was Satsuma Waffle, where hearing and deaf people were making and selling waffles together. How to make the waffle is shown in pictures so that anyone can understand. A light blinked to alert deaf staff to attend customers when visitors walked in.

The deaf members of the staff were taking customers' order by pointing to items on the menu.

I saw how it was possible for deaf people to work and live independently with such considerations. I would like to create such job opportunities in Myanmar.

Photograph 1

At the Japanese ASL Signers Society, I learned about presentation skills in sign language. Learning how I could talk and make others understand, and learning communication techniques, proved extremely useful later when I had chances to talk to other people at my various training destinations, having to introduce myself.

In Myanmar, there is no place like this to learn these sign language presentations. However, I feel that deaf people need to develop this type of ability to present their views and thoughts confidently. I would like to hone my skills so that when I have a chance, I will be able to properly present my views and thoughts.

Photograph 2

I visited two deaf associations, one in Saitama and one in Fukuoka.

Both associations offer classes on sign language and sign language certification exams to working adults, students, housewives etc., who then sign up as sign language interpreters, working as interpreters at various places including hospitals.

In Myanmar there are no such classes or systems to sign up as sign language interpreters. At hospitals, deaf people often have a hard time understanding what their doctors are saying.

At the deaf associations, I saw many elderly deaf people participating in various activities. These activities by deaf associations across Japan are such inspirations, for me to think about activities for elderly deaf people in Myanmar.

At Meisei Gakuen, I saw students receiving bilingual education, with Japanese sign language as the primary language for deaf children, and written Japanese as the second language.

There is very little chance for sign language to be used in the schools for the deaf in Myanmar and the proficiency of deaf children in sign language is very low, which is one of the issues.

At Meisei Gakuen, I observed that once children properly learn Japanese sign language, which will be their primary language, they can smoothly transition to learning written Japanese, and other subjects. I found this educational direction is highly effective and extremely inspirational to deaf children. Another wonderful thing about Meisei Gakuen is that they provide opportunities for parents of deaf children to learn Japanese sign language. Once parents learn Japanese sign language, they will be able to communicate using sign language at home and provide information. I wanted to implement such initiatives in Myanmar for learning sign language as there is none at the moment.

Photograph 3

Tsukuba University of Technology is a university for deaf people. There are deaf students from across Japan, studying various subjects. I was intrigued by research on how to learn sign language. The research was about how hearing individuals could master sign language, and the findings were applied to develop sign language interpreters. In Myanmar, there is no university specialized for deaf people, nor any place for deaf students to spend time together. There is no place for deaf people to have discussions about sign language, which makes any surveys or research about sign language difficult.

By getting wide-ranging knowledge in Japan, it became clear to me what the issues are for Myanmar’s deaf education.

In Japan, information assurance is normal in TV news etc., but in Myanmar, there is no information assurance for deaf people. In Myanmar, deaf people are not accompanied by sign language interpreters when they go to hospital. At schools, not being unable to communicate with teachers is not unusual for deaf people. Sign language interpretation is also not allowed in legal situations. As you can see there are overwhelming numbers of issues and problems that deaf people in Myanmar have to overcome.

Furthermore, in Myanmar, there was hardly any collaboration or cooperation between organizations for people with disabilities. In Japan, I saw a great partnership between various disability organizations working together across any type of disabilities, whenever and wherever needed. This is another area in which Japan will be a role model for Myanmar.

Lastly

In Japan, I obtained plethora of knowledge at various training destinations. But not only that. I also had so many memorable experiences.

In Myanmar, I hardly ever went on holiday with deaf friends. Travelling with my own family was fun of course, but it was often accompanied with a lonely feeling because I could not communicate with them at all well. In Japan however, I went sightseeing with my deaf friends, saw many things together, and shared our thoughts in sign language. It was such fun, something that has become a treasure of life for me.

I saw so many beautiful things like flowers and gingko promenades and enjoyed many tasty foods. I am sure many of you think of sushi when you think of Japanese food, but for me, it was the eel. The eel I had was absolutely amazing.

Once I return to Myanmar, I would like to brush up my skills, teach Burmese sign language and instruct deaf children in ways that suit them.

I would also like to expand Burmese sign language vocabulary and put together a book, so that Burmese sign language will be regarded on the same level as Burmese.

Last but not least, I would like to convey my gratitude to everyone at the Duskin Ainowa Foundation, the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, Toyama Sunrise, and my training destinations, for kindly taking me under your wings while I was training in Japan. Thank you so much.

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