Finland is one of the areas of the world that has an autumn, and today was a beautiful day once the morning rain stopped. The skies are very blue here and the changing leaves added an additional splash of color around the Light House, the headquarters building of the Finnish Association of the Deaf. The representatives from Cambodia have never seen an autumn and changing leaves before.
One of the most significant aspects of deafness is the social isolation caused by the lack of a common language with the rest of their society. The result is that when deaf people get together, they immediately establish and renew bonds and communicate in earnest, taking advantage of the opportunity to express themselves freely and to be understood easily. This is a picture of the coffee break in the morning.
Another conversation during a break. Deaf people from more than thirty countries attended this workshop on education which identified issues to be addressed if deaf people are to have more control over the education of deaf children.
Five small groups met through the afternoon and presented their goals and strategies during the last hour. Members of the Board of Directors of the World Federation of the Deaf, also headquartered in the Light House, participated in the discussions as small group leaders. Each group gave a five or six-minute report.
One advantage of a deaf conference over a hearing conference is that all five small groups could meet in the same room. There were no noisy conversations that disturbed the groups. There were occasional outbursts of laughter when someone made a humorous point, but only the hearing interpreters heard the laughter.