20th Anniversary Ceremony of the Deaf Education Project in Vietnam

Hello everyone!　(Ho Chi Minh City Sign Language)

Members of The People’s Committee and Department of Education and Training of Dong Nai Province, Dr. Tran Minh Hung, Dr. Pham Van Thanh, Dr. James Woodward, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, faculty, students, parents, alumni, and all stakeholders, I am very happy to be able to give a few words on this 20th anniversary of the deaf education project in Vietnam.

“One World One Family.” This is the basic philosophy of The Nippon Foundation. We work with the belief that we are one global family. So, we cut across politics, philosophy, religion, ethnicity, and national borders. And we have placed high priorities in capacity building of persons with disabilities in order to realize an inclusive society, the very core of a global family. We have already worked in 48 countries.

To recall, 20 years ago, there was no deaf student able to graduate from junior high school in Vietnam. This was because, at that time, sign language was not used in deaf education. It was thought to be a shame to use sign language, and to be recognized as a deaf person.

But Dr. James Woodward and Ms. Hoa had an ambition to provide good sign language education. This was to build a foundation to prepare deaf students to become actively involved in society. This was nothing but a dream then, but the seed was planted by two people with an ardent desire and determination. This is the beginning of the first bilingual deaf education in Asia.

The seed that was planted has been cherished and nurtured, through good and bad times. From the early stages everyone, from those directly involved with the project to every stakeholder, shared the same goal and worked tirelessly towards its achievement. Twenty years have passed since. Bilingual deaf education has been offered in the junior and senior high school programs and in the tertiary teacher training program. And today, the seed has grown to bloom as a beautiful flower.

Many brilliant graduates are now active in various sectors of society, such as teachers at deaf schools, president of the national deaf association of Vietnam, founder of NGO to promote the use of sign language. It makes me very happy to learn that students who studied under this project are now planting their seeds for more beautiful flowers to bloom.

Many a beautiful flower has bloomed through the Dong Nai Model of bilingual deaf education due to the tireless efforts of all of you. I think we can say that this is a very innovative project in Asia that we can be proud of. I would like to ask for further cooperation to Dong Nai University and the People’s Committee for continued expansion of the project.

Let us work together, from here in Dong Nai, to spread the flowers of bilingual deaf education to come into full bloom throughout Vietnam and Asia.

Thank you! (Ho Chi Minh City Sign Language)

＊This video message is available at The Nippon Foundation YouTube.