speaking silently, they were heard

This afternoon Dang and I met with Noemi, Charlie and Giselle, all administrators from the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) at the DLS-College of St. Benilde. We encountered their organization while scoping projects at the Panibagong Paraan project exhibition a couple of weeks ago at SM Megamall. We discussed possible partnerships between Idea!s and their institution, seeing as we may be able to collaborate with some of their MultiMedia Arts students and graduates on design projects. This meeting was rather timely, as tomorrow we have a presentation with the Philippine Federation for the Deaf and the Philippine Deaf Resource Center. They have a couple of projects which we might be working on. Wouldn't it be cool if a student from SDEAS worked with us on these materials for the Deaf? Come September, if things go well, we'll have an SDEAS intern. Exciting.

I've posted an article from the DLS-CSB paper on the SDEAS' recent achievement. This is great stuff.

SDEAS Triumphs at Panibagong Paraan Competition

The School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) does it again.

Its entry, "Youth Entre-ployment Support for the Deaf," was chosen as one of the top winners at the recently concluded 2006 Panibagong Paraan competition. Panibagong Paraan is a prestigious project grant competition organized by World Bank, in collaboration with local and international development partners. The project proposal will be implemented within a one-year period using PhP 1 million grant from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) - Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP). "We ar truly grateful for this grant, as this will go a long way towards fulfilling our goal of improving career opportunities for the Deaf through employment and entrepreneurship," remarked SDEAS Dean Theresa Christine Benitez-dela Torre.

This victory comes at the heels of another SDEAS success: last year, a group of Deaf Benildeans won in the Youth Employment Spark Business Plan Competition, a national contest that resulted in the creation of the Deaf Benildean Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DBMC). The Deck Coffee franchise in the College's Taft campus is DBMC's first business venture.

The "Youth Entre-ployment Support for the Deaf" project proposal is a joint effort of SDEAS, DBMC and the Philippine Resources for Sustainable Development (PRSD). It aims to empower DLS-CSB's Deaf students and graduates to become micro-entrepreneurs, enabling them to conceptualize, lan and implement their own businesses under the coooperative set-up. Consequently, these efforts shall generate more opportunities for sustainable income and employment among Deaf people, enabling them to become job makers, and not just job seekers.

The SDEAS entry also earned a People's Choice award for best project proposal during Panibagong Paraan's two-day exhibit at the Megatrade Hall in SM Megamall. This special award came with two prizes: a digital camera and cellular phone, gadgets that are vital to Deaf people.

The participation of SDEAS in this year's Panibagong Paraan contest was made possible by the support of Postsecondary Education Network-International (PEN-International), a partnership of colleges and universities serving the postsecondary education needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students worldwide.

- Taken from the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde Perspective June 13, 2006