Listening to the plight of deaf children

MANILA, Philippines - Probably the one thing a child looks forward to during a school year is the annual field trip. That one day when pen and paper lie around lonely in the classroom; teachers let the one or the other rule breaker get off free, and adventure dances merrily around every child waiting for an opportunity to create a story.

The Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) has been around for the past 103 years, catering to the needs of thousands of hearing-impaired children. But one thing they haven’t been able to do so far was to take out the students for a field trip. The one constant challenge that arose was the communication barrier. While the students and teachers are masters of FSL (Filipino Sign Language) and SEL (Sign Exact Language), public transportation officers, tour guides, and other people aren’t. This means that if anything happens to a child, like if he gets separated from the others, he wouldn’t be able to properly communicate with anyone. The community was waiting for a miracle, a solution to one of many unnecessary problems.

Then one day, middle of last year, the answer came in two different forms. One was a businessman, Ralph Balmaceda, who was toying with idea of “unconventional tourism” and the other was a professor of tourism, Christina Caluza, looking for a way to make her son’s life brighter. After they exchanged ideas and stories, they knew they could help each other. So, many months of research began with the firm goal of creating a bit of freedom or independence for the hearing-impaired.

“At first, I admit it was just a good business project,” says Balmaceda, “But the more research we conducted, the more personal it got.”

He continues, “When we heard Christina’s story, the struggle… We cried many tears.”

Like many other parents, Caluza found that there wasn’t a support system around for parents whose children live with deafness, and that the options for the children got smaller and smaller the older they got.

“You can’t imagine what it’s like, being helpless, not being able to help your own child. Richmond is my blessing,” she says with a smile.

In November 2010, the project had developed curves. “Sign Language Tours Philippines” (SLTP) was born. The first company in the tourism industry in Asia to cater to the hearing-impaired and Richmond’s school, PSD would be the first to get a taste of the creatively designed adventure.

For 536 students, from preschool to high school at the Philippine School for the Deaf, that day finally came on an ordinary Thursday in Pasay City.

The sound of silence: More than 500 preschool and high school students from the Philippine School for the Deaf enjoy a day with the animals at Paradizoo during their first field trip.

The day began at 6:30 a.m. though according to the teachers, some very excited students had arrived as early as 4 a.m., so as not to miss anything.

Upon arrival in school, I doubt anybody would have guessed that the students shuffling and bustling in the courtyard were hearing- impaired. They were just as giddy as any kids their age when confronted with the prospect of ‘no school’ for an entire day.

The SLTP had organized 10 buses, including a medical vehicle to transport the animated students, the anxious parents, and the nervous teachers to a few hot spots located in Tagaytay. In each bus were one tour guide and two interpreters. The interpreter’s sole purpose was to engage the students in games during the ride and translate the various fun facts that the tour guides told them, which they did with the utmost love and care.

Balmaceda explains the procedure, “Besides FSL, we’re going to use visual aids to explain our plan for the tour and the rules. It’s easier for them to understand them like that.”

The first stop of the tour was the Gardenia Bread Plant, where students, teachers, and parents got a tour of the plant and even learned how bread was made.

The trip continued to Paradizoo, a small zoo where domestic animals have found a home and roam around freely. Between eating lunch, watching the animals, and enjoying games, the parents had some time to reflect upon the tour so far.

“It was at first difficult to convince the parents. They are very protective of their children. But now, they are very pleased. I am, too. It’s great,” Balmaceda says proudly.

Caluza adds happily, “Everybody is so happy. I realized the demand for something like this, people’s needs, the people drive me to help them understand the beauty [of everything].”

“And now, with guides, they can appreciate and understand everything we see and do, too,” she adds.

The two final stops were Picnic Grove and the People’s Park in the Sky, where it seemed the bonds of friendship between the students, the teachers, and the parents grew even stronger.

The tour was, needless to say, a success for the upcoming “Sign Language Tour Philippines,” However, it was nothing in comparison to the what some people did for the children of the Philippine School for the Deaf to make this field trip a memorable one. There was no need for words as happiness was written all over the children’s faces.