Deaf Hope Tea Party 2008: Part I

Quicktime On September 27, 2008, Deaf Hope Tea Party prepared lavishly with treats that attracted over 90 people to attend for a good cause. It is an annual charity event to sponsor Deaf domestic violence victims and survivors. For more information and donation, please click here. This is part I of III.

Looking for Ways to Heal

Quicktime

Summary:

When my mother and I got invited to celebrate "femtorship" which means the power of receiving, as well as providing, mentorship with Deaf women at the Deaf Hope Tea Party, I was excited and honored to return once again but this time with my mother. When I found out that Ben Vess was also invited as a MC, I wasn't too crazy about the idea. I had never met him and only knew him through the Deaf blogosphere but it wasn't a positive experience to get to know him virtually. However, with Ben's permission to tell you this, he made an attempt to contact me last summer to warn me about the letter-writing group who went too far to go beyond the blogosphere so it gave me a benefit of doubt about him. By the way, nothing happened but the point was that was when I knew he was sincere and candid.

It is clear to me that he has a wonderful talent in writing and that he does have many potentials to contribute to the Deaf community. This is a part of the reason why I have decided to give it a chance to meet Ben. After getting to know him in person and spending hours and hours talking it out, it lead to a positive outcome that we are sparked to work together on spreading awareness about ASL for Deaf babies.

I had never dreamed that Ridor, Ben and I would end up in the bathroom at someone's home as shown in the end of the clip!

We will work together to make this a better community!

Only if Bathroom Walls Could Sign

Quicktime Here is a video clip that I have bumped into several well known commenters in the bathroom. Something about California and bathrooms!! This is a fun vlog featuring Steve Longo, Sheri Mutti, Bethany R. and David Reynolds during the celebration of the International Day of Sign Language rights at Sacramento, California. David made a good point how a restroom is designed for the Deaf that communication is made more possible for ASL users but dangerous to eavesdrop! The design is so creative but confusing! See it for yourself!

Celebrating Int'l Day of Sign Languages at Sacramento

Quicktime It was an inspirational moment for me and many others (over 700) who attended the Int'l Day of Sign Language, Californians for ASL on September 26, 2008. I was very impressed about the organization of the successful event with a variety of Deaf speakers and performers. I wished I could tape it all but to find out that the battery life was limited and with no recharger in hand, this was as much as I could get. Thanks to LaRonda getting most of the speakers in video, here are the links below. LaRonda's vlog covering International Day of Sign Language at Sacramento about:

Terrylene

DCARA

DBC presenters

Richard Ray, CAD President

Chester Brock, Manny Johnson & Tom Holcomb Celebrate ASL

Vloggers, Vickee and Bridgetta Celebrate ASL

***transcript coming soon***