Workshop on Deafness issues -

[Jkahleguil at WORLDBANK.ORG]

Dear Valerie,

I am a member of your distribution list but I have never introduced myself.

Disability is not my primary field.  I have 23 years of personal experience and
5 years of field experience as volunteer in the field of disability.  My
daughter is disabled with cerebral palsy.    I created a non-profit organization
called United for the Love of Children in Washington DC in order to join the
networks of people fighting for people with disabilities.

The organization is operated by volunteer professionals (World Bank and IMF
staff, and the African Diaspora).  We cover all kinds of disabilities, mainly in
Africa.  So far we have helped secure the only school of the Deaf in Cote
d'Ivoire, establish an organization for mothers of disabled children,  supplied
the school of mentally ill children with school materials, among others.  We
just completed a survey in Cote d'Ivoire intended to assess the needs of people
with disabilities and make some recommendations to Government authorities...

There is only one school for Deaf people in Cote d'Ivoire and the top level is
5th grade.  The issues are similar to those of developing countries.

We are planning a workshop in August in Cote d'Ivoire to raise awareness about
deafness and hearing impairment.  The objective of the workshop is to identify
the number of deaf people in the capital city, assess their needs, and then
design and implement a training program that will involve parents of deaf
children, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and potential teachers, local and
international.

 The official language in Cote d'Ivoire is French and they use ASL. The school
of the Deaf and the two associations for the Deaf are involved in the program.
The President of the Republic will be solicited... The workshop would involve
high ranking officials, including the media.

I know this is a short notice.  But I thought this could be an opportunity to
introduce signwriting.  I wanted to bring this to your attention and see if this
is something that you would be interested in.


PS:  I have been a World Bank employee for 18 years in Administration.

Best regards,

Jeannette Kah Le Guil