Awesomeness!

So today Will and I met with the organization we're going to work with, here in Philly. Good folks, VERY helpful, and bought us Vietnamese food for lunch, so you can't beat that. While talking with our new friends, Will and I found out to bits of AWESOMENESS. One is that through the organization we can now offer tax deductions to our supporters. Our blog is now set up for that to happen, and you can still do it all online.....pretty sweet. The other thing is that for the training class that Will and I are taking, although we still need to attend and are required to do the readings, we DO NOT need to take any quizzes or do an written work, thank goodness! As many of you know, test taking is not something I enjoy doing, and so I am very relieved that I can now sit back and enjoy the new information that I'm receiving, without stressing about completing quizzes on time.

In other news, as I continue to read up on Deafness in India, I came across this tidbit of information:

"There are 3 million Deaf children in India, and 25,000 children are born Deaf every year. Only one in ten children who are deaf, go to school, and 90% of them live in urban areas. 50% of children who are Deaf drop out of school by the age of 13". (www.deafchildworldwide.info)

I've been talking with my students at Penn. School for the Deaf about the differences between our culture here in the states, and the culture in India, and how much more our kids are offered here. We're starting to talk about what kind of exchange we'd like to have with our new friends in the Deaf community of India, with exciting discussions about the different written and signed language. It's been exciting to have my students think about this newness with me.

That's it for today. Peace to you all,
Lauren