Police challenged by deaf suspect’s case

The police in Dong Nai Province are finding it difficult to handle a deaf and illiterate man who allegedly hit a man with an iron bar on October 4 who subsequently died one day later from a severe brain injury, writes Phap Luat & Thoi Dai for Tuoitre News (31/10/11).

The suspect, 29-year-old Nguyen Van Duc from Long Thanh District was arrested on October 8 in a rented room. The police said Duc didn’t know sign language for the deaf and could only communicate through gestures.

The police thus had to ask two sign language specialists to help questioning him.

Duc told the specialists he had wanted to steal from a phone shop and hit the man who tried to catch him.

However, a lawyer from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar has warned the police about the accuracy of such questioning.

“No one can know for sure if Duc and the specialists fully understood each other,” he said.
“It is likely that only Duc’s mother or father can fully understand him through his gestures.”

The lawyer also said Duc should have a legal representative during the questioning process and advised the police to invite somebody who is close to him to act on his behalf.

A source told the police that Duc had a girl riend who took him to the hospital to treat his injuries caused in his fight with the two men who tried to catch him.

After Duc was hospitalized, the girl disappeared.

Duc and the girl have been living as husband and wife, the source said.

However, Duc refused to talk about the girl with the specialists.

In the early morning of October 4, Nguyen Van Tang, 43, a resident of Hiep Phuoc Commune, caught Duc using an iron bar to force open the door of a mobile phone shop next to his house.

Tang rushed toward him and shouted for help.

While fighting with Tang, Duc struck him in the head with the iron bar.

Tang then fell to the ground and passed out. Another resident then showed up to fight with Duc, who later ran into an alley where he  had parked his motorbike and drove away.

Tang was taken to Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC but died one day later.
The police launched an investigation and suspected Duc, who has previous convictions and had left his residence, which had lived in for years.
The police then sent wanted notices for Duc to many hospitals and health centers since they thought Duc could need medical treatment for his injuries.

They also asked all boarding houses to report any suspicious guest. Three days later, a hospital called the police.

But when they arrived, the suspect had escaped.

On October 8, after being informed by the owner of a boarding house, the police rushed to the scene and arrested Duc in his rented room.

At present, they are searching for Duc’s girlfriend.

Pointing the way to a successful campaign in challenging times

The director of communications at the National Deaf Children's Society reveals how they built and launched an effective media campaign against government cuts writes Victoria Shooter, for The Guardian (25/10/11).

Charities are preparing themselves for challenging times. Vital support services for the vulnerable people we represent are in danger of being reduced and in some cases completely eradicated, due to government spending cuts. At the same time charities are in competition with one another to raise awareness of extremely important issues. The challenge for us all is how to stand out from the crowd and galvanise our supporters to act.

In May, the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) launched its Save Services for Deaf Children campaign in response to local government cuts to specialist educational support for deaf children. We reached more than 16 million people with our message and made local authorities sit up and take notice. Here we share with you how we built and launched the campaign.

Saving services

At the beginning of this year, we began to get reports from parents of deaf children about rumours of funding and job cuts to specialist support. Particularly concerning were cuts to specialist teachers of the deaf, who are crucial in deaf children's success, helping them to develop good communication skills and making sure that classroom teachers know how to teach a deaf child.

A very important part of our role at NDCS is to help deaf children and their parents to get the support they need, whether this is working on individual cases with councils, or campaigning nationally and regionally for change. As soon as these reports began to emerge, we began planning to protect these services.

We knew that to build our battle plan, we needed to get detailed information on what was happening on the ground. So, we ran an online survey of parents, promoting it through our e-newsletters, on our website and our online forum Parent Place.

740 parents responded with details that enabled our local teams to dig deeper and find out what was really going on.

Clearing the smoke

Despite some excellent intelligence from parents, we soon encountered significant resistance from local authorities reluctant to share details of their plans and even the cuts they had already begun to make. We needed more robust information to get an accurate, national picture of the cuts - and the clock was ticking. We issued 45 local authorities with detailed Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, using our expertise to craft questions that would generate the clearest answers.

We wanted to know about the current level of support being provided to deaf children, whether this had been reduced recently, or if there were any plans to cut it. This meant being very specific with our questions to avoid ambiguous answers. Once the FoI requests were issued we could establish a timeline for the launch of a national campaign: all councils would be legally required to respond to our requests within 28 days.

Building our case

Although 11 councils failed to meet the FoI deadline, when combined with written correspondence from other local authorities, we had enough data to create a national picture of cuts to support for deaf children.

We were shocked at the results: almost one in five of the local authorities we had data for (141) had made a cut to educational support for deaf children. Quite simply these cuts should not have been happening – central government had ring-fenced the education budget it gave to local authorities. This gave us a clear call to action for the secretary of state for education Michael Gove to launch an investigation into these cuts.

We also wanted to create a number of ways for the public and members to get involved. We created a static map depicting the cuts with the Office for National Statistics and created an interactive online map where parents and other members could report cuts to deaf children's support in their area.

We created template letters for people who wanted to support the campaign to send to their MPs and councillors asking them to challenge local cuts decisions. We also created a guidelines booklet for parents to fight cuts in their area, downloadable from our website.

Bringing the campaign to life

Our regional teams had already begun to work closely with parents in areas where we knew cuts had been made, such as Stoke-on-Trent, where the number of teachers of the deaf has been halved in two years.

Many parents had compelling stories, including one mother whose two-year-old son was having support from his teacher dramatically cut. He is at a crucial stage of developing his speech and communication and support for his teacher of the deaf is now vital. His mother Katy says she will consider moving to get her son the support he needs.

Stories like these not only galvanise MPs and councillors into action, but are essential to secure effective media coverage, bringing the experiences of deaf children, young people and their families to life.

Lift off

With our statistics, case studies, visuals and calls to action in place, we launched the campaign in May.

The results:
• Our findings made national news, prompting calls and emails to pour in from local authorities keen to talk to us about the future of support for deaf children.
• Our spokespeople were interviewed from Cumbria to Cornwall, appearing on TV, on the radio and in print.
• The campaign has reached 16 million people so far.
• Two local authorities have subsequently reduced the severity of cuts to deaf children's services and we are continuing to push for more councils to urgently review their decisions and protect this vital support.

This is a live campaign, with more reports of cuts coming in from our beneficiaries. We are continuing to lobby councils, galvanise our supporters and get media support for our cause.

Top five tips to build a strong media campaign

• Be very clear about why people should be concerned about your cause. Let them know why it is so important.
• People power. Our power comes from the people we support and represent. Their experiences, stories and passion are invaluable to any campaign. It is also crucial that we provide the tools, confidence and support that empower our beneficiaries to speak out.
• The devil is in the detail. Be thorough, challenge the information you are given and be prepared to stand by your findings.
• Don't pull your punches. Decisions are being made now that will have a huge impact on the people we support. If someone isn't playing fair, don't be afraid to name and shame them.
• Take people with you. Be clear how your activity fits with your organisational strategy. Clarify what you are trying to achieve, who should to take action and what they need to do to help you achieve your goal. Know how you will measure the success of your campaign.

Victoria Shooter is the director of communications at the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS)

Fresh CCTV appeal in hunt for man who raped deaf woman in Lincoln

Police today made a fresh appeal to the public to trace a man in connection with the rape of a disabled woman in Lincoln city centre reports This is Lincolshire (28/10/11).

Officers want to speak to the suspect about the attack, which happened behind a pub in Broadgate between 1.30am and 3am on December 18 last year. The victim was a profoundly deaf woman in her 20s.

The CCTV was filmed inside Sippers, which is now known as Scotty's Bar. Today police say they are stepping up their search and have issued fresh pleas for information. They are urging anyone who recognises this man to come forward and not protect him.

Detective Inspector Dave Swann of Lincolnshire Police said:
"This is a disgusting crime against a particularly vulnerable young woman. We are talking about a suspect implicated in a horrific attack on a profoundly deaf member of our community. This offender deserves absolutely no loyalty. He may be a threat to other women and needs to be brought to justice as soon as possible. Since the attack we have worked closely with the victim and her family to help her through the difficult and harrowing process of reporting a sex crime. Reliving an ordeal like this can be a vivid, terrifying experience and it requires huge bravery to see it through to this stage. Over the last 10 months we have gradually pieced together what happened with the victim and carried out an enquiry involving CCTV analysis, witness trawls, searches and appeals within the community. Our initial press appeal did not reveal the true horror of this attack. It is only the bravery of the victim in allowing personal information about her disability to be released that has enabled us to share this with the community. We now need people to respond. Please take a close look at this picture. Do you know him? Please call me and help us bring this potential offender to justice."

Contact Lincolnshire Police on 0300 1110300, alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Film about deaf wrestler winning audiences

Having grown up both an athlete and a movie fan, Eben Kostbar knew when he heard the story of wrestler Matt Hamill that something cinematic was possible writes DAN BENNETT North County Times (27/10/11).

Kostbar, a producer, writer, director and sometime actor, had grown up inspired by underdog films such as "Rocky," "Rudy" and "Hoosiers." A former wrestler and fan of mixed martial-arts, Kostbar liked what he saw in Hamill's story. Here was an athlete who was deaf, and managed to overcome a low-income, high-risk background to find fame and success in sports.

Hamill is a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling, and earned a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling and a gold medal in freestyle wrestling from the 2001 Summer Deaflympics. Hamill was later a contestant on the third season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality television show.

The movie Kostbar co-produced and co-wrote on Hamill's life is called "The Hammer." The film is opening for short runs at dozens of theaters across the country today, including the Vista Village Metroplex 15 and UltraStar Cinemas Mission Marketplace 13 in Oceanside. It is directed by Oren Kaplan and co-written and produced by Joseph McKelheer.

"I heard Matt's story and thought, 'Wow, that's remarkable,'" Kostbar said in a telephone interview. "He's an inspiring guy. He was receptive to meeting and talking about making his story into a film, and it took off from there."

Kostbar says he knows sports films need a hook and some emotional momentum.

"Matt was open to including all of the aspects of his life," Kostbar said. "It's really a perfect underdog story. Here was a deaf person accomplishing something that had never been done by another deaf person. Although I knew American Sign Language, I didn't have a lot of experience with deaf people, but I was fascinated by this. I knew that a movie would draw the interest of hearing people who wanted to know more, and would also inspire the deaf community."

Filming for "The Hammer" happened mostly in New York, as Hamill attended Rochester Institute of Technology. While Kostbar initially considered playing the lead role himself, the filmmakers ultimately decided to hire a deaf actor, Russell Harvard, who had a role in the film "There Will Be Blood."

"We made sure we had deaf crew members, and that people from the deaf community were involved throughout," Kostbar said. "We wanted everything as authentic as possible."

After finishing production, "The Hammer" was submitted for film festivals across the country, and became a festival success story, winning audience-favorite awards almost everywhere it landed.

"The audience simply took the film to heart," Kostbar said. "We were so happy with the festival reaction."

The festival success was so strong, in fact, that "The Hammer" was able to do what most independent, low-budget films rarely do: pick up a distributor for theatrical distribution. The film will have a DVD release early next year, but the filmmakers are encouraging people to see it in theaters for maximum effect, and to show distributors that audiences will support independent films such as this.

"The film will also make wrestling and mixed-martial arts fans happy, because the action is so real," Kostbar said. "It will also bring attention to the deaf community in the best possible way. It's a film that anyone who has struggled will identify with."

Visit thehammerfilm.com

CHARITY EVENT RAISES MONEY FOR CHILDREN’S DEAF SOCIETY

A FUN day raised money and awareness for a charity close to a nursery’s heart reports the North West Evening Mail (25/10/11).


Happy Tots Day Nursery, in Barrow, hosted an open day full of fun to raise cash for the National Deaf Children’s Society.

The nursery had a bouncy castle, disco and fundraising events including a tombola, face painting and a raffle on Sunday.

A number of other activities at the nursery took place last week to raise money for the society.

The Abbey Road nursery was inspired by one of its pupils, Honor Morton, three, who is partially deaf.

Anna Archer, deputy manager of Happy Tots, was thrilled with the support from parents and businesses.

She said: “It was just generally a really fun day for all the children.

“We have a couple of deaf children in the nursery, so we wanted to build on that and raise money for the charity.

“We have had great support and had a lot of raffle prizes donated, including hair and beauty vouchers, bottles of wine and lots more.

“We decided to use the charity fun day as an open day too so anyone could come.

“And we showed a number of families around, which is great.”

Smiling faces all round proved the day was a success.

The Bay radio station was based in a tent outside, broadcasting from the nursery, while hundreds of children had their faces painted, played in the ball pit and tried their hands at the lucky dip.

Ms Archer added: “We thought it would be nice to give the children something to do on a Sunday.”

Arsonists target Woodside family centre in Kingswood

A centre for blind and deaf people in South Gloucestershire has been targeted by arsonists reports the BBC News (25/10/11).

Sheds next to the Woodside family centre in Britannia Road, Kingswood, were set alight, and the fire spread to the main building.

Part of the roof has melted, and some of the rooms have been flooded.

The cost of repairs is estimated at £25,000 and the building will stay shut for two weeks while repairs are carried out.

Vandals also sprayed graffiti over the walls. Police are investigating.

Volunteer Alice Walton said the centre supported deaf and blind children and adults and their families.

"It's really unfortunate. It's had such an impact on a centre that's so heavily relied upon in the community," she said.

Avon and Somerset Police have appealed for witnesses and anyone who was in the Woodside Road area on Saturday evening to contact them.

Inquiry day to review services for deaf children

BRISTOL City Council will hold an inquiry day on Thursday to review work towards improving services for deaf and hearing-impaired children in the city reports Bristol Evening Post (17/10/11)

The day will take evidence from council officers and external experts, with an opportunity for the public to make statements. It will end by making recommendations to the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Development Group, which is due to feed into a report to be taken to cabinet next year.

Currently, 365 children in Bristol access services for the deaf and hearing impaired in a range of settings. This includes early years settings such as nurseries, mainstream schools, resource bases attached to schools, Elmfield School for the Deaf and other special schools.
The development group started work in March this year, to audit current practice and make recommendations for future development.

Councillor Alastair Watson, chairman of the children's services scrutiny commission, which called the inquiry day, said: "Our aims is to give councillors and the public a timely opportunity to contribute to the work of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Development Group. It is an extra opportunity for engagement on an issue where we need to respond to rapid change, brought about by the use of new technology and changing parental choice.
"I'm delighted that we have a guest speaker from the National Deaf Children's Society and am sure the day will be both lively and productive."

The meeting will be webcast and British Sign Language interpreters will be available.

Bringing art discourse to the deaf

A dictionary of contemporary art terms in sign language is launched in New York writes Bonnie Rosenberg, The Arts Newspaper (19/10/11)

A panel discussion held tonight at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York explores a new book that bridges the gap between visual art and sign language. The Dictionary of Contemporary Art in Italian Sign Language, edited by the Education Department of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art and the Turin Institute of the Deaf, presents a collection of 80 signs created to guide the hearing-impaired through the contemporary art world.

The book is result of a programme that began at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Turin in 2006, which aims to create a sophisticated non-spoken language about contemporary art. In the dictionary, each new sign for a term is explained with a written summary and is accompanied by an illustrative work of art.

To celebrate the project, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York is hosting a panel discussion tonight entitled “Silence Speaks About Art”. The four guest speakers include: Luciano Candela, the president of the deaf association “Unione ex-allievi sordi dell’Istituto dei Sordi di Torino (Union of the alumni of the Deaf Institute of Turin)”; Enrico Dolza, a professor of sign language at Turin University; Brunella Manzardo from the Castello di Rivoli education department; and writer and art historian Anna Mecugni.

The book is published by Umberto Allemandi Editore (which also published The Art Newspaper) in both Italian and English.

Croydon charity worker shrugs of disability to win employee of the year

The handicap of being both deaf and blind has not prevented a charity worker winning a national award as employee of the year reports the Croydon Guardian (14/10/11).


Mother of two Emma Boswell has Usher Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that has seen her lose first her hearing with her sight then deteriorating so she had tunnel-vision and no night-vision by the age of 20.
Unperturbed, Mrs Boswell, 38, of South Norwood, joined deafblind charity Sense, and works to support people with her own condition, earning her the title of Employee of the Year 2011 on Tuesday, October 4.

She said: “I feel very honoured to win this award - It’s a privilege to be able to work with deafblind people and their families and to meet new people and learn new skills.”
Meeting with deafblind clients, working with professionals and families, and those affected with Usher, Mrs Boswell also does presentations and attends UK conferences speaking about dealing with the disorder.

“My life with Usher did not stop me from achieving my dream of travelling solo, joining an expedition working at Camp America and achieving a degree in interior design. I have had a adapt and accept my condition.
Supported by her guide dog Drew Mrs Boswell also uses sign language and speech, though she recognizes she is not always easy to understand.
She said: “My speech is not always intelligible but my family and friends understand me because they are used to my voice and how I speak. Strangers may not always understand me.

Having been promoted to manager of the National Usher service Mrs Boswell, who works out of the Sense office in Epsom says she loves working to help people She said: “I used to work as an interior designer but realised I wanted to work with people on a more personal level.”

SignVideo available at constituency office

Mike Crockart MP for Edinburgh West is the first elected member in the UK to make Deaf Action’s SignVideo available at his constituency office, report STV TV Edinburgh (12/10/11).

The service provided through Deaf Action in collaboration with SignVideo, means that Deaf BSL constituents are able to visit Mike to discuss their concerns without having to worry about a language barrier. The latest technology means that a translator joins the meeting via a webcam and provides simultaneous translation.

The online interpreting service for deaf people will provide instant access to experienced SASLI registered BSL/English interpreters using the most advanced technology in the field.
Commenting Mr Crockart said:

“Throughout the UK there is a shortage of British Sign Language/English interpreters; this is a particular problem throughout Scotland with the ratio of qualified interpreters to sign language users estimated at around 1 interpreter for every 200 sign language users.
“This shortage means that interpreters are booked up in advance and many interpreters are unable to accept bookings at short notice. Commonly, sign language interpreters are booked for a minimum of two hours, even for an appointment that may only last 15 minutes. Clearly, this booking process is not very convenient for deaf users of the service.
“This technology will revolutionise the way that I can communicate with Deaf BSL constituents. I hope other elected representatives across Scotland will think about adopting SignVideo.”

Innovative Solution To Improve Access To Theatre for Deaf

1 in 6 people are left out of the arts! Innovative solution to improve access to theatre for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing comes to the Isle of Man writes Paul Watson, Manx.net (07/10/11).

As part of Disability Awareness Week (31 October – 5 November) the Manx Deaf Society is delighted to announce that captioning (subtitling) equipment has been purchased for permanent use in the Isle of Man, greatly improving access to theatre entertainment for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people.

Judith Ley, on behalf of the Manx Deaf Society, said “Due to the generosity of a private family trust, the Isle of Man now has portable professional equipment that enables the spoken word to be converted into visible text that provides deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people with access to live theatre performances – and because the captioning unit is portable, it can be used in venues around the Island to benefit the maximum number of people”

Hon David Cretney MHK, Minister for Community, Culture and Leisure said, “Improving access to leisure activities is a key policy of the Department. The sign-language interpreted performances of shows has proved to be extremely popular and I am delighted that, in addition to these, a captioning facility is now available. I know that it will greatly improve the experience of visiting the theatre for people with hearing difficulties as well as attracting for the first time those who have never been able to comfortably follow a show at the theatre.”

To demonstrate how the captioning equipment works, there will be a showcase event at the Gaiety Theatre on Tuesday 1 November at 8pm. The general public is invited to attend and entry is free.

As an introduction to how the system works, the Legion Players will be performing a 10-minute preview of their upcoming play – RC Sherriff’s WWI classic ‘Journey’s End’ (the play is on at the Gaiety Theatre from 17-19 November, tickets on sale now priced £10). The Legion Players will also be the first to use the equipment during a fully captioned performance of Journey’s End at 2.30pm on 19 November.

Stephanie Gray, Chairman of the Legion Players, said “The Society is absolutely delighted to support the launch of the new captioning equipment, and to put it to full use in its forthcoming production. Communicating fully the text of a play or musical is vital. This new equipment will enable drama and music groups throughout the Island to engage with those who have previously been discouraged from attending productions and shows. Our sincere thanks to the Manx Deaf Society for making this possible.”

BBC's mangled subtitles anger viewers

The BBC has been criticised by deaf groups over "ludicrous" computer-generated subtitles which have labelled the Labour leader "Ed Miller Band" and announced "a moment's violence" for the Queen Mother reports Josie Ensor for the Telegraph (10/10/11).

Hard-of-hearing viewers have been left "utterly perplexed" by errors in the live captions – which have also renamed the Ireland rugby team "Island". Deaf people have expressed their shock at being told a town was expecting a visit from the "Arch b**** of Canterbury" during one local BBC news broadcast. In another embarrassing faux pas, a reporter visiting a farm spoke of how the pigs "love to nibble anything that comes into the shed, like our wellies." Unfortunately the subtitles alongside the report changed the last word to to a rather childish homophone. After one viewer captured it on screen the error became an internet sensation.

During the Queen Mother's funeral, the solemn words "We'll now have a moment's silence for the Queen Mother" became "We'll now have a moment's violence for the Queen Mother" in one BBC broadcast.

The blunders have become so regular that a dedicated website has been set up by bemused viewers: http://subtitlespage888.blogspot.com/

One found in another broadcast a BBC announcer said "government making holes for surgeons" instead of "making helpful decisions." While the Labour leader was referred to as "Ed Miller Band" in a news broadcast earlier this year. And in one Daily Politics show, one politician announced to the presenter, Andrew Neil, that he did not believe in “soliciting” himself, when he had actually said “shortlisting”.

Pre-recorded subtitles are done before transmission and appear in time with the programme. Live subtitles, however, are made by a stenographer typing words phonetically as they listen to a show, or with speech recognition, where someone talks into a microphone while listening to the broadcast, and a computer recognises their words. The latter can lead to the use of words that sound similar to the intended one, but give a very different meaning.

Broadcast regulator Ofcom has compiled research which has found that many people who could benefit from subtitles just make do for example by turning up the volume.
They also found that of those who use subtitles, nearly 60 per cent report problems with subtitles on catch-up television services.

Last week, BBC subtitles left deaf rugby fans baffled, thinking that the Welsh side were playing "Island" instead of "Ireland" in the World Cup. The frequent mistakes in the corporation’s live subtitling have now come under fire from deaf groups.

Emma Harrison, Action on Hearing Loss’s Director of Public Engagement said she receives regular complaints about errors in subtitling: "Access to television is really important to people with a hearing loss. We urge all broadcasters to monitor the quality of their subtitling to ensure high standards, and invest in technology to reduce mistakes so people with hearing loss can access television in the same way as hearing people," she said.
"We would also like Ofcom to play a greater role in monitoring subtitling complaints.
"As part of the Government review of the Communications Act, we are calling for new laws to provide full access to television entertainment, and want subtitling to be available on all programmes, regardless of whether it is traditional or catch up TV."

The BBC said: "We recognise that subtitling is a hugely important service, and we endeavour to ensure it is as accurate as possible. There are occasions, particularly during live broadcasts, when mistakes will happen but we do all we can to keep this to a minimum and are constantly striving to improve accuracy."‬

A deaf refugee from Bhutan impresses in Canada with her enthusiasm

Moving half-way across the world to an entirely new country and culture could seem daunting to a deaf teenage refugee from Bhutan writes Gisï Nyembwe, Alert Net (29/09/11). 

But Pabi Rizal says it's the best thing that ever happened to her. And she'll tell you in English and American Sign Language - both of which she learned in an astonishing three months after she, her parents and two deaf siblings came to the Canadian capital just over two years ago, when she was 18.

"I believe deaf refugees can do anything hearing people do, except hear," she says through a sign language interpreter in her Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada classroom at St. Joseph's Adult School in Ottawa. Clearly excited about being interviewed by UNHCR, she's exuberant and outgoing, her face only turning sombre when she recalls refugee friends she left behind in the Beldangi camp in eastern Nepal.

After 17 years in a refugee camp of thatched huts - her parents fled Bhutan soon after she was born - Pabi was enormously impressed by things most Canadians likely take for granted.

"Wow, there is electricity everywhere and all the time," says Pabi, her eyes lighting up at the thought of being able to study at night and use her computer whenever she wants. "Here at school, I keep on being amazed at the flashing fire alarm," she adds.

At first astonished by the high-tech visual learning aids at her new school, Pabi quickly mastered video phoning. She now uses Skype to train other deaf Bhutanese refugees around the world. She is happy to explain how to use the equipment in the classroom, her enthusiasm inspiring visitors just as electricity illuminates Pabi's new world.

Pabi and her family are some of the 5,000 Bhutanese refugees from camps in Nepal coming to Canada under a five-year resettlement programme that began in 2007. More than 50,000 refugees have already left camps in Nepal for eight different countries in one of the world's largest resettlement programmes.

Contrary to public perception, American Sign Language is not related to English, so Pabi had two new skills to learn when she arrived in Canada. But after just three months she did well enough to get a job as a warehouse attendant in a department store in an Ottawa suburb.

She's grateful for the opportunity to study in the morning and work in the afternoon, and has applied for admission to the Belleville School for the Deaf in hopes of becoming a teacher of others with hearing problems.

Pabi clearly sees her future as lying in this hospitable North American country. "I want to stay in Canada," she says. "Canada has given me and my family empowerment, equality and respect."