One Deaf player, Anaya Lall, took on seven challengers and finished undefeated to win the Under-14 Girls Chess Championship title during an international all-girl student competition in India which attracted over 2,000 players from 120 countries. She is 12 years old which makes her the youngest person ever to play for Guyana at a FIDE Chess Olympaid! She says she didn’t go in expecting to come out a champion, but feels good about winning. Team Guyana defeated teams from Laos, Central African Republic, Timor-Leste and Libya. Players of any age and any disability from 120 countries compete to determine who are the best players.

The 4C Preschool Program at a private Catholic school in St. Augustine’s is the only option for pre-K ASL education in Saskatoon, a farm state in midwestern Canada. Public schools in the city do not offer ASL instruction at any grade. Parents drive from miles around to give their children an opportunity to learn ASL from a Deaf teacher while also learning English. The program accepts both Deaf and CODA students. The school has ASL story time, play time, monthly themes, gym activities,lessons, field trips, and local events. These give children access to both ASL and English which results in better emotional, social and communication growth, lower anxiety and frustration, earlier and better quality reading skills.

There is a new restaurant and plant nursery that hires people with disabilities on a beach in southern Nicaragua. They did not plan at first to hire Deaf staff but after hiring one Deaf person, they have hired more Deaf staff who work at both the restaurant and thenursey! Edwin, the hearing head chef and restaurant manager, learned enough sign language in 10 days to communicate with and train the cooks and servers. Since Nicafé opened, Edwin’s NSL has continued to grow along with his bond with the Deaf staff. All management and staff have learned some Nicaraguan Sign Language to communicate as a team. Having two businesses in one reduces the business’ dependence on tourism. The restaurant is in San Juan del Sur, a tourism city with a population around 15,000. All the local Deaf people grew up together, attended the same school and know each other well.

Fanni Singini and her friend Edna Makonyola talk about training and employment for Deaf women that also covers Gender Based Violence and other training on issues that women face and problem solving. They also provide training on developing businesses and help Deaf people get jobs. thewy with with the government to train teachers for Deaf children but are challenged with finances. “Malawi is a happy place… beautiful mountains and rivers with beautiful animals. We in Malawi are happy that we are here to learn and bring positivity to the country.”

Emmanuel was born Deaf but was unable to attend an university because of his academic proficiency and knowledge of Kenyan Sign Language. One day after observing how many hearing and Deaf people were unable to communicate with one another, he founded the Deaf Association and teamed up with Tiko to build a classroom to teach Kenya Sign Language from 6 to 7 every day for three months. those interested in learning to become sign language interpreters should study for 1.5 years.