Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Jordan
How has the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf (in Salt in Jordan) coped with two tragedies – the death of Brother Andrew (see the last Newsletter) and the pandemic?
The staff, children and parents have shown amazing resilience and dedication throughout the lockdowns in Jordan, as so many have and are continuing to do throughout the world. As you can imagine deaf teaching and learning online brings with it an extra layer of challenge and complexity. The teaching staff fully embraced the technology available to them and focused on ensuring that the facial expressions and physical movement, so critical for sign language, were as clear as possible to deliver effective learning via the computer screen. For the deaf-blind children, staff at the Institute relied heavily on the children’s parents as intermediaries, as all communication takes place through the physical touch of hands.
What have the staff been doing?
Staff in the workshops had an idea for an absorbing project to make use of some of their spare time by making something for the children to enjoy when they returned. They decided to make a scale model of the Institute – a remarkable feat as I think you will see from the picture. Many of the students now have aspirations to become architects!
At the outreach facility in Azrak refugee camp lessons also started again. This was especially appreciated by the children as life in the camp can become very monotonous, especially for the deaf and others with various disabilities.
