by Ronai Brumet, Signing Time Academy Master Instructor

Ronai and her daughter, Ellie

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s good, because I have a thousand pictures and I’m having a hard time coming up with words that can adequately describe the experience that I had in Ghana.

I was privileged enough to go with an amazing group of people that included my 14 year old daughter, Ellie. I, of course, was worried, as I think any mother would be, about how she would handle all of the change. Ellie is kind of shy until she warms up to a new situation. (Ask Aaron Coleman how long she took to warm up to him the first, second, even third time she met him.) She also doesn’t like to be surrounded; she prefers to sit by the side and watch. I was SHOCKED at how quickly she adjusted to being mobbed (in a good way)by the kids at the school. She jumped in with both feet, or I should say hands, and started learning the kids’ names, teaching the new ones signs, and just giving them all the love she could. I watched in amazement as my daughter seemed to age and mature right before my eyes.

So people keep asking me how my trip was and I seem to only be able to answer with, AMAZING, or as Jen would say AH-Maze-Za-Zing! I saw so much during that short 10 days. Here it is weeks later and I’m still processing all of it. Going to the Deaf school seemed heart wrenching at first. I looked and only saw poverty because I was looking through my own flawed eyes. I kept thinking about all that the children lacked, again according to my own entitled bias. It wasn’t until I really started looking, that I saw all that these children have, and what I truly lack.

village boy

For example look at this little boy from the village. I learned so much from him as he happily pushed this skate down the street with his stick. My first thought was that my 3 boys would have a fit if I gave them anything that was pink. And the fact that there was only one skate would cause another problem. But as I watched him happily playing with his pink skate I started to think, what is it that I’ve missed teaching my children? I started to look around again and instead of seeing abject poverty, I started to see joy in the little things. The kids were playing outside nicely with each other and were creative with what they had. They weren’t inside complaining because they didn’t have the latest and greatest video game.

Ellie, Ronai, Jen and children from Mampong village

I went to Ghana with the intention of making an impact, and instead Ghana had a huge impact on me. My perspective has been altered, for the good, and I hope that I can help my boys see things differently. I want to teach them how to appreciate all that we have, and that we really don’t NEED all the extra. I’m not saying that I’m going to sell off everything and move into a hut (although the thought has crossed my mind.) I just want to express my gratitude more and be willing to think of others before myself.

The Deaf School in Mampong has a new headmistress and she is wonderful. She knows sign language and you can tell that she truly cares about the children and their education. (The previous headmistress didn’t know any sign language.) We were allowed into the classrooms right away and started teaching the younger kids simple signs so that they wouldn’t get into trouble. Signs like sit-down, stand-up, line-up, chair, table, quiet. The kids were eager to learn and picked these signs up very quickly. We also taught them the colors of the rainbow, (I knew these really well due to a song I know) the alphabet and numbers 1-10.

Jen, Ronai, Ellie and the Primary 1 class

I was feeling rather frustrated due to lack of visual aids. It’s really hard to teach about something if you can’t show the kids what you are talking about. After going over and over the same material I thought I would tell them the story of the Three Little Pigs. The problem was, I was working with the kids that had little to no sign language so I really didn’t know if they understood or if they really just liked watching the funny lady make faces. I finally got smart and had Ellie draw things on the board, and grab things from outside like some grass, a stick and a brick. Then I was able to connect the signs with something visual so that the story might have some meaning to them.

This is me blowing the house down!

It was after this experience that I was able to see Rachel Coleman really work her magic. Rachel had a very simple way of teaching the children.

Rachel, Leah, and Carissa teaching in the Special Ed Classroom

First she had our group label absolutely everything that we could see in the class room; wall, door, window, bowl, cup, chair, table, etc… Then she started with “my name is Rachel, this is my name sign, this is how you fingerspell it and this is how you write Rachel on the board.” What came next was so simple and so brilliant that I just thought “of course, why didn’t I think of that.”  Rachel said “Just like I have a name and a name sign, everything has a name and a sign. This is how it’s fingerspelled and this is how it’s written. She went over everything in the room. Then she had our group members split up and help the kids around the room and show them the things that were labeled and ask what their signs were and how to fingerspell them.

Guess what sign I’m teaching

This was so successful that the next day Rachel had me go to three different classrooms and teach the exact same lesson so the teachers would be able to see a new way of teaching the kids. Some of the teachers really enjoyed this way of teaching. The next day I walked into one of the classrooms that I had taught in and all of the students names were now written in the spots that they sit, so that they would finally know how to write their own names. That, to me, felt like I had been successful.

Goofing around

There are many more stories that I would love to share but this was supposed to be a brief overview of my trip. I am working on a blog that is slowly taking shape. (I’ve never had a blog before!) I do have day one done, so please feel free to read about my full adventure there. I will warn you that it may take weeks, or months to post it all.

So when people ask me about my trip they always ask “Do you want to go back?” The answer that we would have to give while in Ghana is “no” because if you express a desire to return then you are essentially promising to return. That being said, I’m not in Ghana now so I will say “Most definitely!!!” I want to take each of my boys back to have their own experience. Ellie definitely wants to go back; I actually had a hard time getting her on the plane to go home. She wanted to stay at the school and help teach. The week we got home she actually started saving for another trip. Which is great but we still haven’t fully paid for this trip! If you have not yet had a chance to donate and would like to contribute to Operation Ghana,  please click here:

Thank you!

by Jennifer Suttner, Rachel and Emilie’s cousin

It’s been almost three weeks since I returned from Africa with the Signing Time Foundation and I have to admit my thoughts are still there more often than not. I miss those kids. My time in Ghana was life-changing (for so many reasons). I will never again take for granted being able to turn a knob and have clean, hot water come out of it. I will also never forget what an amazing support system I have here at home. I’m a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend. I have so many people in my corner. Many of the children at the Demonstration School for the Deaf have depressing backgrounds and sad stories. Their culture places little, if any value on them. Every time we were at the school I’d think of my own boys back home and of how hard I try to make sure they know they’re loved and supported. The majority of the kids we worked with don’t have a family rooting for them. They’ve been left to fend for themselves. They are no different than my boys. They love to play and learn and laugh and they have dreams of their own. They just can’t hear.

We were able to have some amazing experiences in Ghana. We walked through the sky over a rainforest canopy on a rope bridge. We toured a slave castle and saw where men and women had been kept and tortured (not a pleasant experience, but a necessary one). We floated in a paddleboat on a crocodile infested lake. We walked through the market in Koforidua and bought supplies for the kids we sponsored. We ate coconuts and oranges on the side of the road. We went to a cocoa farm and saw how the cocoa beans were harvested and made ready for chocolate. We had dresses and wrap skirts made out of beautiful Ghanaian fabrics. We had our hair done into dozens of tiny braids. We bought beautiful wood carvings from local artists in Aburi. We saw how batik fabrics are made in a deaf school in Koforidua. We had dinner with Samuel Asare, the past president of the Ghanaian National Association for the Deaf. We traveled in a taxi that, when broken down, was fixed with masking tape. We learned how to balance buckets on our head and how to pound a casaba root into a local favorite food called fufu. We did so many incredible things and it all pales in comparison to the time we spent in the school with the kids. Teaching them and learning from them and serving them was the highlight of the trip.

Love is addictive. I’ve always known that, but it was never as apparent as when I was surrounded by a large group of deaf children in the middle of Ghana, Africa. The kids at Demo Deaf loved me for no other reason than I was there. I adore them…I love them…and I am addicted.

We are still raising money for this incredible cause. You don’t have to go to Ghana to contribute. You can contribute right now from the comfort of your home. Every little bit helps. Don’t forget…it’s tax deductible! Thank you for your support.

By Jennifer Thorsen, SLP – winner of our Facebook Success Story Contest

As a speech-language pathologist, I am no stranger to signing. I use signs as part of a total communication approach with my clients in early intervention, to facilitate communication with my own children, and with my elementary-age students who have limited verbal communication skills. However, I’ve never had a student quite like Yadi. Yadi’s ability to express herself verbally is extremely limited, and she mainly uses signs and gestures to communicate her wants and needs along with a communication device. She is also bilingual, which posed another challenge for us. While her device is programmed in Spanish and English, she is still learning how to use it and doesn’t always choose to use it. Signing is her most efficient means of communication at this time, and she always tries to say the word as she signs it. Unfortunately, not only is she difficult to understand but her parents don’t know all of the signs she will use at home with them. With the language barrier between me and her parents, it is difficult for me to communicate with them so we can work as a team and give her more support at home.

When I saw the Facebook post for the contest on the Signing Time page asking people to “Share what is your favorite Signing Time Product to give as a gift, who you like to give it to and why,” I couldn’t help but think of Yadi. I immediately went to www.signingtime.com to browse through products, and imagine my excitement when I saw that several of the DVDs now had Spanish play options! I knew that this would be the perfect thing for Yadi and her family. Now her family could learn the signs and Yadi could learn new signs in a fun and motivating format at home!

Signing Time and Baby Signing Time have also been very helpful to me as they have increased my professional skills and my skills as a mom. Thank you so much from Yadi, her family, and me!

Eliana

Our beautiful daughter Eliana visited with Rachel & family in 2008 while taping Baby Signing Time 3 & 4. Thanks to Signing Time and dedicated parents, Eliana has been reading since she was 11 months old.  Her reading has been tested at the seventh grade level. Last year Eliana’s overall development was assessed. With an IQ of 143, she is in the genius category and exceeded the 130 requirement to become a member of MENSA.

Eliana is very active. This December, she will be in a new Disney Channel show (Austin & Ally). She has a role in our local church drama for the third year in a row. As part of ‘Hands of Praise’, she was invited to sign a song at a local community event.

See her video http://www.elianaarroyo.com/AboutEliana.html.

Her younger brother, Elijah, 3 (also in Baby Signing Time 3 & 4), is on track to equal or exceed his sister’s accomplishments. At age 2, Elijah was spelling and writing his name and alphabet, and at age 3 he is reading at the third grade level. Also their 18 month old twin siblings can already read and sign most of the signs on BST and Signing Time DVDs. As their communication skills continue to advance they say and/or sign their requests.

Thank you Rachel, Aaron, Emilie, Leah & Alex and everyone else who has contributed to our children’s past, present and future.

-Michael A.

When Rachel returned from Ghana in 2008, she brought home some beautiful fabrics from different cities in Ghana: Accra (the capital), Mampong (where the School for the Deaf is located), and Aburi. Rachel used the fabrics to create three beautiful quilts, which are being auctioned on eBay to help support Signing Time Foundation’s Operation Ghana 2012 with Signs of Hope International. The funds will be used to help deaf children in Ghana attend the School for the Deaf where they can learn sign language. The quilt auction ends on January 12th. Bid now!

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1/17/2012
Rachel’s quilts received a total of 47 bids and brought in almost $800 in funds for the Signing Time Foundation’s Operation Ghana. Woo hoo!