Since the year 2000, the British charity Deafway have been working in partnership with Nepalese Deaf organisations to improve the lives of deaf children in Nepal. This is the story of one of the hundreds of children who have benefited from their work.

Anju was born deaf in Sindhuli. As in most of Nepal there was no school for deaf children for her to go to and no advice or support for her parents on how to best help her. Anju therefore had no education and developed no language - no speech, no sign language, no way to understand or communicate with her family or the world around her.

Anju however unlike most deaf children in Nepal, was very lucky. A young deaf person from Kathmandu, employed on one of Deafway’s projects, was placed in Sindhuli in order to teach her and other deaf children Nepali Sign Language (NSL) and basic numeracy and literacy. This changed her life forever. Over a number of months, Anju became fluent in NSL, she started to learn things, she made friends, she changed from a withdrawn, frightened child to a happy, outgoing little girl with a real eagerness to learn.

As there was no school for deaf children in Sindhuli, Anju was transferred to a small school for deaf children (also supported by Deafway) in the town or Gorkha where her studies are progressing well. Gorkha is a long distance from Sindhuli, so Anju boards there. She is away from her family, but at least she is receiving an education.

Deafway continues to work in Sindhuli and, in partnership with the new local Deaf organisation, has recently built, and is soon to open, a brand new school for deaf children there so that in future deaf children like Anju can both receive an education and stay close to their families.

Deafway would like to thank the Barbara Ward Children’s Foundation for their vital support for our work with deaf children in Nepal.

David Hynes

Chief Executive

Deafway