Jayme Kaplan-Krutz from Allies in Development is providing aid for the deaf in Ethiopia

Jayme Kaplan-Krutz from Allies in Development is providing aid for the deaf in Ethiopia

Ms. Kaplan-Krutz is originally from our area and is a speech pathologist who has dedicated her life to the hearing impaired and deaf.  She is fluent  in American Sign Language and when she traveled to Ethiopia, she fell in love with the kids, the teachers and the people.  She is associated with Visions Global Empowerment which is an organization that is quite small, but they have numerous partners including Nazareth College and SUNY New Paltz that are working to provide assistance to a number of underserved countries. 

As their website states:

When the program began, there were virtually no programs for deaf students in Ethiopia, except for a broken down old building with only about 4 students that came to classes.  They set a goal of getting the children out of that old classroom and into a better learning environment to provide a quality education for the students and bring them communication skills.  Focus was placed on getting the kids to school and giving them language access.  They now have two classrooms with some computers, sign language courses and interpreters.  They offer scholarships for deaf young adults to help them get training for employment.  They have daily instruction of sign language in 3 different schools and interpreters at one school.  They also have one of the first preschool programs in the country.  All of this is greatly enriching the lives of the children they teach and for whom they provide hearing devices.

The deaf in Ethiopia are stigmatized there due to their disability, particularly because they were not taught to communicate with others.  Fortunately, Visions Global Empowerment, with the assistance of Ms. Kaplan-Krutz, is making a real difference in these children's lives and giving them the opportunity to access language to learn and be understood, which they so desperately need.

Thank you to Jayme for sharing with us the amazing work you are doing!

 

To donate to this outstanding program, go to : https://www.visionsglobalempowerment.org/donate/