We are very excited to share the news that for the first time ever, five deaf students are graduating from high school thanks in part to help they received from the Sister Islands Association. A generous donation from a Bainbridge family covered the salary of sign language interpreter Claribel Gutierrez Ruiz. Dale Spoor, the chair of the Special Needs Committee, also invested considerable
On Dec. 17, a Zoom meeting was held to celebrate the graduation of five deaf students from the high school in Altagracia. Several members of the Special Needs Committee attending the meeting told the students how proud they were of their achievements and offered congratulations.
The Special Needs Committee recently received a donation of over 50 different kinds of tips for canes for the blind from a company in Canada (Ambutech).
The January Special Needs Delegation, let by Brenda Berry, continued workshops in photography for deaf children. We originated this project with the goal of providing these kids with the opportunity to express themselves creatively to the hearing and non-hearing communities.
“Our Silent World” is an exhibition of photographs taken by 15 deaf children on Ometepe Island through a project jointly sponsored by the Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association and the Bainbridge Island Photo Club.
This video by Brenda Berry is a quick look at a what happens when you travel to Ometepe and give cameras and teach photography to a group of deaf and hearing-impaired kids. This was a project of the Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association. The cameras were generously donated by the Bainbridge Island Photography Club. Enjoy the smiles!
In January, a Special Needs Delegation of 11 people spent about two weeks on Ometepe. They were very busy!
Watching a game of “Goal Ball”— a sport that uses a ball with bells inside — was one of the highlights of the recent Special Needs Delegation from Bainbridge to Ometepe.
