News and Events

Jiujiang, China: It's been more than a year since our dear friend and colleague Principal He Shenghua passed away from lung cancer. His passing was way too early and before he could see the fulfillment of his dreams for a modern school building for deaf children in Jiujiang.

However Principal He's family, friends and staff have worked very hard this past year to honor him and continue his important work. Under the leadership of his son Mr. He Ming and the school's principal Madam Zhang the school has built a new indoor kitchen, showers and toilet building, and rooms for meetings and staff development. All of these structures are behind the main building.

This was accomplished with funding provided by the Jiujiang City Government and the support of Vice Mayor Wu Ping. The school continues to grow each year adding 25 new students. This past June Richard Lytle attended the first middle school graduation ceremony.

Five students passed the examination and have been accepted into a high school in Nanjing. Several of these students are expected to pass the college entrance examination in 2 years. This is a wonderful achievement by these students and their teachers. The Jiujiang School uses the “regular” national Chinese academic education curriculum.

This past month Principal He Shenghua was honored by the city of Jiujiang as one of its top 10 citizens.

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World Deaf Leadership Scholar, Zhou Jiayi, a Shanghai native, begins her senior year at Gallaudet University. Zhou Jiayi has a 5 year World deaf Leadership Scholarship from the Nippon Foundation in Tokyo, Japan www.nipponfoundation.org .

This scholarship supports her current undergraduate study and a two year Masters Degree program in International Development, also at Gallaudet University. This summer Zhou Jiayi returned to China to conduct her WDL research.

She also completed an internship at deaf owned Viable Inc. a video relay communications firm in Rockville, Md www.viable.com . Zhou Jiayi is an accomplished artist and provides web design support to PIE.

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PIE helps raise funds for Myanmar Typhoon relief: Under the leadership of Dr. Charles Reilly PIE was able provide direct relief to deaf people impacted by the Typhoon in Myanmar. Many deaf and hearing people contributed to this grass roots funding raising effort by Dr. Reilly. The relief effort was led by a leader who is working with the deaf community in Southeast Asia.

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First National Conference of the Deaf in India: The DEEDS Foundation and Gallaudet University are collaborating in sponsoring the first national conference on deaf education and empowerment in Mumbai in the first week of January 2009. Dr. Madan Vasishta, vice president of PIE, is helping organize this conference and is working closely with both organizations.

The theme of the conference is “Empowerment through Education.” India is a rising country and is finally realizing that there are untapped resources among disabled people, including the deaf. These resources need to be developed and the key to their development is education.

According to UNESCO figures, less than 10% of India's deaf people attend a school. Most of these children live in urban areas. Since India is 70% rural, most deaf people do not have access to appropriate education. One of the goals of this conference is to help find ways to spread education in rural areas.

Dr. Asiah Mason is coordinating the conference on behalf of Gallaudet University and hopes that this pioneering effort will result in similar national conference being held in collaboration with Gallaudet University in other Asian and African countries.

PIE is excited about this conference and will provide support for it through Dr. Vasishta.

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PIE responds to Earthquake in China: Students at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf on the Gallaudet University campus www.gallaudet.edu initiated a fund raising effort to help deaf people impacted by the terrible earthquake in China this past May.

Their teachers, Mr. Mark Tao, who is deaf and from Taiwan, helped the students, organize this effort. Over $550 was collected by the students. Other individuals also made contributions to PIE for earthquake relief. In June Dr Lytle presented the Jiujiang Deaf School with these funds to support 2 students from Sichuan province who were displaced by the earthquake.