[Sw-l] Personal Info

[Dale Spoor]

Dear Colleagues,

My name is Dale Spoor, but I go by "Diego" with my Spanish speaking
friends. I live on the island of Bainbridge, a short ferry ride from
Seattle.  I am the chairperson of the Special Needs Committee of the
Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association. For over thirty years
we have been working cooperatively with our friends on Ometepe (located in
Lake Nicaragua) in projects in health and education. For the past ten years
of so we have organized projects for people in the special needs community
on Ometepe.

When I first met the deaf children in 2006, neither their parents or they
knew that Nicaraguan Sign Language existed.  There were no governmental
programs for the deaf.  The children did not attend school. About a year
later we began providing workshops in Nicaraguan Sign Language for children
and their family members--something we continue every Saturday.  Originally
we brought two deaf teachers from eastern Nicaragua to conduct the classes,
but now our older students who have become more fluent do the
teaching.  Five deaf students, assisted by the interpreter we helped to
train, are now in their third year of high school on the island.

Currently I am collecting donated iPads and installing the Nicaraguan Sign
Language Dictionary created by James and Judy Kegl.  When things settle
down there politically I plan to deliver the iPads to the children we work
with and teach them Signwriting.  James Kegl is assisting me in learning
Signwriting, and I hope to visit Ometepe in January to do the workshops.

________________________________________________


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