Global Xchange has been a successful partnership in Nepal since 2007 between local NGO communities, British Council and Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO).
Young deaf volunteers from Nepal and the UK made Global Xchange history, as they joined the first all-deaf exchange this weekend.
Nine deaf volunteers, a deaf Programme supervisor and and a sign language interpreter went to the UK on 23 October 2009.
As part of Global Xchange, a joint British Council and VSO volunteering programme, the eighteen 18-25 year olds will live and work alongside each other for six months. Spending their time equally between Preston and Kathmandu, they will volunteer in local communities and work together to produce a piece of theatre to raise deaf awareness among hearing communities, which they will perform at venues in both the UK and Nepal.
'The team is very proud that through our collaboration with Deafway it has allowed us all to be able to offer the Global Xchange experience to a group of young deaf volunteers for the first time,' said Olga Rey, Global Xchange Project Manager at the British Council. 'Global Xchange is about supporting young people who want to become active global citizens and want to work for positive change within their communities.'
'They get an invaluable chance to learn both about the cultures of the communities where they volunteer and a unique opportunity to live and work together in pairs to develop and share valuable skills and make a practical contribution where it is needed.'
First of its kind
Since 2004, Global Xchange has hosted over 100 exchanges in nearly 20 countries, but until now, has never been able to facilitate a completely deaf group. This inaugural exchange is the result of two years of planning for which the British Council and VSO have partnered with Preston-based deaf charity, Deafway.
'It’s quite a challenge to send 18 deaf volunteers out to work overseas,' says Carolyn Denmark from Deafway and the UK programme supervisor for this group. 'This is a real opportunity for these young volunteers. Society often has low expectations of deaf people and partly because of this, many of them don’t work but rely on state benefits like disability allowance.'
'This Global Xchange also offers an opportunity for our host communities,' says Carolyn who is deaf herself. 'Sometimes hearing people are scared because they don’t know how to communicate with deaf people – I hope that by living in local homes and interacting with hearing communities, we’ll start to increase understanding of not just Nepalese and UK but also deaf culture.'
Cultural exchange
'I’m really excited and very grateful to get this opportunity that no other deaf person has had – yet!' says Amy Davis, 19, who will take part in the exchange. 'I’m looking forward to getting a taste of other communities, in Preston and Nepal, and to be able to learn the culture of another deaf person who leads a very different life to me.'
Ramesh Shrestha, President of the National Federation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Nepal, bid farewell to the Nepalese volunteers: 'This is a first-ever chance for the young deaf community of Nepal to travel to such a developed country like the UK. You can learn a lot from the country and bring back what you learn. It will be a completely different experience in a new country with different sign language but try your best to showcase your ability.'
The volunteers come from all over the UK and Nepal, and will spend the next three months volunteering in Preston. In January they will travel together to Kathmandu to embark on the Nepalese leg of the programme.
To date over 1000 volunteers have taken part in Global Xchange. This exchange is one of 18 planned this next year, which will include projects between Bradford and Nigeria, Birmingham and Saudi Arabia, Newham and China, and Aberdeen and Tanzania.
For more information about Global Xchange, visit http://www.globalxchange.org.uk/index.htm
Kul Prasad Bhattarai was born at Sakhar village of Syanga District in western hills of Nepal. He lost his sense of hearing to typhoid at the age of 11. He is currently studying his Bachelor level at Mahendra Ratna Campus. His aim in life is to be a good teacher of deaf children by changing the teaching methods for the deaf people in Nepal. He is also actively involved in the youth committee under National Federation for Deaf and hard of Hearing (NFDH) and other activities of NFDH.
Priyanka Subedi was born in Morang district of Nepal. She has completed her SLC (Grade 10) level and is currently pursuing her higher studies from Namuna Higher School at Biratnagar. She is an active member of the Koshi association of the deaf and also a member of NFDH.
Rita Sapkota was born in Gaidakot V.D.C of Nawalparasi District in western terai of Nepal. She lost her sense of hearing at the age of five after being bed ridden with high fever. After completing Grade six she moved towards vocational training and learnt tailoring from the skills training for deaf people in Kathmandu. She has just opened a tailoring shop in her village and is also teaching women from her community. She is also actively working for the Chitwan Association of the deaf.
Jamuna Shrestha was born at Tanahu, in the western hills of Nepal. She joined Shree Shreejana Higher Residential School in Pokhara and recently completed her class 12. She has taken basic computer training and various beautician courses. She has worked as a volunteer with the Tanahu association of the deaf and is currently working as a teacher in a special education class run by the Government of Nepal for Deaf people in Nawalparasi District.
Gunjana Khadka was born at Kavre, central Nepal. She has completed her higher secondary and has also taken short courses on basic art and English and is now taking her advance beautician training.
Binaya Shrestha was born in Myagdi, western Nepal. He has completed his SLC level from Srijana higher Residential Deaf School in Pokhara and is working as a sign language teacher in Dolpa. He has also worked as a sign language instructor for classes conduced by NFDH. Additionally, has done two month’s training in Pokhara to become a cook.
Sobita Poudel was born in Myagdi, western Nepal. She is currently studying in Grade 11 and is working as a vice secretary with the Baglung deaf Association and a member of the school building construction team in Baglung and the management committee of Dhaulagiri deaf primary school Baglung.
Sikha Pradhan was born in Parsa, central Nepal. She is currently studying her Intermediate in Arts from Lalitkala Campus. She has been working as a sign language Instructor since 2007 with the Kathmandu association of the deaf. She is currently a treasurer of the Lalitpur association of the deaf. She has participated in various art exhibitions, attended training on corn husk products, participated in training on beads (pote) making, beautician training and training in fine arts from Renesa Institute of Fine art. She has also participated in various art competitions, quiz contests and table tennis competitions.
Babita Paudel was born in Morang, Biratnagar, eastern terai of Nepal. She has been working as an active member of Koshi association of the deaf. She was also involved in the various programs conducted by the Halesi Tol development, a local level organization.
18 young volunteers from UK and Nepal participated in the Global Xchange programme to support the development of active global citizens committed to working for positive change within communities in 2008. These volunteers have lived and worked in pairs for the first three months in Banepa, Kavre. and 3 months in Brigton, UK. The theme for the exchange was 'social inclusion and peace'. They have supported Banepa by raising awareness on cleanliness and waste managemnet and now the village is sustaining on their own on those issues.
For more information: visit http://www.vso.org.uk/globalxchange
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