Last year the time is very difficult for deaf people
to get a lot of information about the COVID.
They feel like they're not safe.
They're very scared that they don't have any information.
I have to do something.
So I go to Ministry of Health and ask like, is it possible
if I do sign language in the COVID news?
Adding the sign language into that
daily update was very powerful to raise a public awareness about
sign language.
Some, some people think negative.
I feel very like sad is there,
angry is there.
I think for those people who have this negative attitude, simply,
I think they just do not have enough understanding about disability,
and some time they didn't know how to respond.
On Facebook, I explain for people
who don't understand what I'm doing, I'm not the entertainer.
I do sign language for deaf people who cannot hear, who cannot speak,
who cannot get any news or any information from COVID.
I think once people understand it, they accept it,
and then their attitude change.
The attitudes, it change a lot
and people want to learn more, sign language
Bequal is the basic education Programme
supported by Australia here in Laos.
Bequal is doing a more gender and inclusive education curriculum
and is working with the Ministry of Education and Sport.
We discuss that all the training
videos for teachers need to be dubbed in sign language.
And, that’s how we start with Sophaphone to dub sign language
into the teacher training videos.
I want to change minds, for hearing people.
When I first met deaf people, I think it’s in 2008, I was a volunteer with my mum.
I never met deaf people before in my life.
All of the time, like one week, two times.
I always go to the deaf group and learn sign language from them
and then I ask them, can you give me a name in sign language?
So they give me my name like this.
From, from 2008
I use that name like this.
They said, like
hearing people, they don't understand who we are.
They just think like we are deaf and we don't have brain.
I think the common challenges of a child with hearing impairment
is simply to continue further school.
I was born deaf.
My parents tried to take me to the local school, but I got bullied a lot,
so I just stay at home alone without anyone talking
to me.
Things really changed for me
when I had the chance to study with other deaf.
Whenever I had to go home for a school break,
I was really sad because I felt like I didn't have anyone to talk to.
But when the school reopen, it was great
because they met people just like me.
The training video is accessible for everyone.
It could be accessed by any teachers or children with hearing impairement.
But, also we use that as an advocacy tool
to show people that there's a,
there’s a way to communicate with people with hearing impairment.
So for me, I think inclusion, it's very difficult,
especially for hearing impaired people.
I want information to reach the deaf people as much as possible.
So there is a need to have more people who do sign language.
So that deaf people can understand and receive
information.
For the typical day for our school, Hands of Hope school.
They learn mathematics.
They read, they write,
so fast, it's make me like, okay, what I did,
what I start before until now it's not useless at all.
Give them a chance to study
and you will see how much they can do, how much they can learn,
how much they can speak, how much they can write, how much they can communicate,
how much they can show their ideas.
So I think those children growing up, will have more chance compared with
my time.
We have more chance to understand people with disability, more, much more.
I believe so, yeah.