Sr. Merly Tom Kizhakayil - Meghalaya
This state in Northeastern India is also called the "Scotland of the East" because of the similarity of its landscape. The beautiful Khasi, Lushai Garo and Jaintia Hills, which are criss-crossed by streams and waterfalls, provide the backdrop for this state. Known for its pleasant climate and friendly people, Meghalaya, or "Land of the Clouds," is a scenic tourist destination. Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is a popular tourist destination in Northeast India. It is known for its slopes covered with pine and fir trees and the nearby Barapani Lake, which is a popular picnic spot.
Site Description
This is a Centre started in 1996 for early intervention, education, and rehabilitation for the deaf. At present, we have 88 disabled children in the hostel: seventy who are deaf, five with Down syndrome, and few others with polio or missing the limps. It is a residential day school for the disabled. We are also moving to include other disability groups, through an ortotic and prosthetic unit and a vision centre.
The children in the school follow the same curriculum as the normal children in their studies, while the vocational groups learn basic reading and writing skills, as well as various life-help skills (tailoring, knitting, embroidery, bakery, candle & greeting cards making, etc.)
We follow the philosophy of total communication in communicating and teaching these children, i.e., using sign language, finger spelling, listening skills, speech reading, and verbal communication.
We, too, are not expert signers, but are learners, so she (the missionary) can join us in all the activities of the school, house, and hostel. She can be in the classroom while the children are learning, in the playground while they are at play, and in the garden while they are working. She can also help the very young ones to bathe and wash their clothes, etc.
We prefer to have a smaller group of missionaries, between 1 and 3, as we have limited space for guests. Most of the house is used by the children.
Once you are here with us, you are part of the family.
You can join in all of our activities, prayers, meals, and work. I am in the same community, so feel free to ask anything you need to know. In fact, I am the pioneer for this work, so I can answer you your inquiries about this work. The commonly used sign languages are American and British, but here we are trying to introduce the Indian sign language, which was developed quite recently. We use some American sign language in the liturgy. The medium in our school and centre is English, but the local people have their own tribal languages, as the people in this region are tribal.
The following was written by Sr. Teresa Pathuppallil, FMA
It is our own center run for the physically challenged children. We have about 95 children in the boarding school. Out of these, only three or four are able to hear what we speak. The rest all of them are deaf, and as a result, they are not able to speak. We run a school for them with the normal curriculum. The teachers are trained to teach this type of children.
We do not have classes up to Class IV at the centre. Many young guest missionaries come and spend their time with these less fortunate ones. They learn to use sign language, which is the key to enter into the lives of the children: to teach them, play with them, work with them, and take care of them. We also have a vocational training center for the older girls and boys. At the vocational training center they stitch uniforms and make cards, rosaries and candles, among other things. Recently they have begun a section of bakery items. Besides all these tasks, the children do a lot of manual work in the garden. They water the garden, plant strawberries, and maintain both the kitchen and the garden. There is plenty of work, which is both challenging and satisfying.
We also have a family quarter where we meet the parents of the children and teach them how to deal with these kids at home. So the accommodation is not a problem. She can put them up there. The missionaries can also share our common meal. We do not have daily Holy Mass, but Mass is arranged whenever possible. The centre is a wonderful place, and the experience will be rich and make you happy. The only thing the director mentioned was she is not able to make any honorarium or pay for these our guest missionaries, since ours is a humble venture.
Source: http://www.licht-fuer-die-welt.at/news_artikel.php?id=all Translated (German – English) using: http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html
"Islands of the Isolation" - support for hearing impaired children
The deaf cannot inform themselves, and since they lack appropriate training, they usually have no chance at independent life. They often suffer from social isolation.
LIGHT FOR the WORLD focuses on helping these marginalized people in developing countries. The Indian Sister Merly Kizhakayil, created a center for hearing impaired children less than 15 years of age, after the trained teacher recognized that many children, due to their handicaps, have no chance on learning and establishing independent lives.
"Deaf children are not noticeably handicapped by their outside appearance, and other people cannot understand them. Thus, they find it doubly hard to connect with the people around them," says Sister Merly.
Today, the Ferrando Speech and Hearing Centre in Barapani, India, cares for 95 children from 4 to 22 years old. Additionally, it cares for 150 hear-impaired people, who do not live in the center. LIGHT FOR the WORLD supported the building of the new school.
Scarcely 2 percent of the population in the region is deaf. Reasons for the high number of deaf and/or hear-impaired children include: malnutrition, multiple births, Malaria, poor hygienic conditions, and tympanic cavity inflammations.
In Barapani children and adults are audio-metrically examined, and the children receive speech instruction and education. The earlier that children are educated, the greater the chance that they will learn to speak, despite their handicaps.
Hearing-impair adults come into the center to learn different occupational talents, such as a sewing, tailor, manufacturing candles, and baking. Additionally, they receive language training depending upon need.
Sr. Merly smiles over one of her favorite sayings: "as islands of the isolation they come to us, but we give them training and hope for their life."
In the future Sr. Merly would like to extend the activity of the center into the secluded rural areas carry. She wishes to develop the program as the first mechanisms for screening and language development.