There's three deaf and mute practicumers in Pro-life who I
met last December. Paul is a very assertive, talkative
(YES, talakative) person and a joker. Nikki is the most
quiet among the three but the most generous. Joanna is such
a darling... She's beautiful, sweet and childlike and she
has cerebral palsy. Among the three, I talk a lot to PAUL
and learn sign language from him. But I was most affected
by Joanna. We only bonded a few days but I could almost
feel like she's already my sister. Last Friday was Joanna's
last day! I will miss this little darling of mine. We
exchanged hugs, took a lot of pictures and had lots and
lots of laugh.

I realize their beauty and innocence and limitations as
well and I realize how blessed I am to experience this
world fully. I also realized how I would like to work with
them more so that I could learn more from them in their
perspective.

~Paul's Antics~

Paul is the hearing impaired friend I mentioned the other
day. He is such a funny person. I like the fact that he's
so easy to talk to and he is interested to know what you're
saying. I learn a lot of sign language from him. Today, we
had such a laugh because the Deaf and Mute students have an
upcoming concert and they will be interpreting a song. So,
at first Clark (the deaf and mute son of Ate Au who works
also in Pro-life) was the one teaching us, but Paul butted
in and he helped me learn the signs of the song. It was so
funny, and quite educational. Funny because Paul speaks a
little and sometimes he says it in a funny manner. But I
help him by correcting him. Sometimes he gets all shy when
I correct him and he stops teaching us but I show him that
it's okay, otherwise we wouldn't learn. I told him it's
the
same as learning sign language, i get shy because I forget
the signs I just learned. But i don't stop, I persevere.
After this, he understood and continued on helping us learn
the signs.

Paul teases me a lot and sometimes, even plays with us a
lot. He's a kid trapped in an teenager's body! He calls
me "Betty Boop" because of my figure. But even if he teases
me a lot, I'm really grateful for the friendship we share
because I see a lot of things he hunger to learn, and even
if he's hearing impaired, that doesn't stop him from being
happy, from being who he is and from learning. He's very
bright and cheerful. I pray He'll always stick to God and
that God will bless this friend of mine.

to my hearing impaired friends

i said goodbye to my two hearing impaired friends at Pro-
life office yesterday. I was able to communicate "thank you
for teaching me sign language" to Paul and to hug Joanna
and said that I will be missing her so much. it has truly
been such an experience for me to meet them and to be able
to interact with them. we so take for granted all our
senses that we abuse them sometimes. and here are people
who would love to have a sense of hearing... as i said
before, we live our lives fully... we came into this world
knowing we can get the best of the best out of it... yet
look how we are... snappy and judgemental of people,
ungrateful and more. but the hearing impaired, they are so
innocent, so kind and would love to hear our voices but
they can't... and so what we can do for one is to learn the
language and give them some kind of normality when they
interact with people and be understood.

i applaud GMA 7 for making a telenovela with a deaf and
mute played by nancy castiliogne soon to air at nights! i
believe now that GMA 7 truly has balanced programming.

to my hearing impaired friends, cheers to you! I shall miss
you!