Active Deaf Community Through Online Activity
2009-2011
Background
At the time of the project’s conception, the participation of deaf youths in the Palestinian community was not as strong and active as other groups of society. They were not offered the opportunity to express their opinions, views and ideas about their personal and social issues.
The voice of this group is really important to the community and needs to be heard and considered. Therefore, we wanted to provide a group of twenty deaf students with a background in online communication technologies and online media: how they can use it to learn about local and global issues and become actively involved in the youth discussion and activism which goes on daily on the World Wide Web. There they can actively participate by making articles, comments, and photos that reflect their opinions and make their voice more effectively heard.
The voice of this group is really important to the community and needs to be heard and considered. Therefore, we wanted to provide a group of twenty deaf students with a background in online communication technologies and online media: how they can use it to learn about local and global issues and become actively involved in the youth discussion and activism which goes on daily on the World Wide Web. There they can actively participate by making articles, comments, and photos that reflect their opinions and make their voice more effectively heard.
Mission
ADC aims to improve the ability of deaf youth to use modern communication technology in general and social media in particular in a way that allows them to have their voice heard and considered in the local community. ADC wants to provide deaf students with an opportunity to express their opinions, not only among themselves, but among their local community and around the world. Therefore, it is based on four main points:
1. Providing online media and technologies education for deaf youths.
2. Providing a space for deaf youths to express and discuss their issues. 3. Introducing deaf youths to global issues that concern youth and the world today. 4. Provide them with the tools that allow them to use the online technologies positively and effectively. | 
December 2011, participant of "ADCOA" is registering to iEARN online forums, to be able to get interact with her peers from around the world on different projects and activities.
|
ActivitiesBased on the youths’ right to equal social opportunity, we have developed a group of workshops that targeted the community of deaf youths between 16-22 years old. The workshops were training a group of youths on “Online Communication Technologies and Ways to Use it Positively,” “Communication & Writing Skills,” and “Online Media”.
The workshops were implemented in partnership with the International Education and Resources Network—Palestine Branch and with the full support of Relief International. The workshops were managed and facilitated by professional trainers in communication skills and writing and by youth volunteers who acted as peer support for the group of trainees. The project formed a foundation for future projects that aim to get deaf youths involved in community work, and served as a seed for the alumni’s future. | Other ActivitiesThe activities of the ADC project, took part in the summer of 2010 and during the year of 2011. A group of deaf students from a school linked to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society were provided with different kind of training from writing skills to public speaking and were given the opportunity to learn about global projects that connect youth from around the world together on common purposes and interests. With the mentorship of youth volunteers who took part in the project over two years, they became involved in some of these global projects.
Students are now familiar with the means of using new communication technology positively and with the concept of social media. They are able to think about their actions inside the world of social media rather than only using it spontaneously with no purpose. They are able to manage their time and make it wide enough for learning, studying and using modern communication technologies including social media. |
The students are currently in the process of getting connected to students from different nationalities and cultures to work together on similar projects, each in his own country
"Active Deaf Community through Online Activity" has implemented many workshops. The main workshop was donated by the US Department of State through Relief International. It targeted a group of 25 deaf students in the school of Palestinian Red Crescent Society for deaf people. The workshop was implemented with collaboration with and support of the International Education and Resources Network (iEARN) in Palestine, which offered teachers and needed coordination in order to have the main part of the project succeed.
The project's plan was developed through Mahmoud Jabari's participation in the program of US Institute on New Media and Leadership with the US Department of States. And it was implemented by work-team, which consisted volunteers and teachers.
