By Katie Gee, Lee University
Lee University students are teaming up with missionaries Curt and Cheryl Humphries in an effort to educate the deaf population of Honduras. It is estimated that there are over 70,000 deaf individuals living in Honduras, with only five known deaf ministries in existence.
The deaf population in Honduras is excluded from public education because of a lack of special education programs for deaf children. Completely isolated from the hearing world, these young people have no way to communicate with their families. Many children have not been taught how to speak, read, or learn their own names. Until recently, there has been no Honduran sign language, and even now this form of communication has not been standardized.
It is for this reason that the Humphries are ministering to the deaf community in poverty-stricken areas such as San Pedro Sula, Honduras. This ongoing project is devoted to changing the lives of the deaf society by enlisting the help of willing college students and professors that wish to serve these struggling families.
Over the past year, six classes within the Lee University Helen DeVos College of Education have been working with the multimedia design class to create a sight recognition program in both Spanish and sign language. A total of around 60 students worked on creating a curriculum using materials on a portable ring to teach deaf children to read.
The students are fulfilling both graduate-level courses and service learning requirements which are now a fundamental part of Lee University’s curriculum.
According to Cheryl Humphries, the results of the work by both students and faculty have proven invaluable. “We never would have thought of this ring program. This is our whole teaching foundation. It’s amazing. It’s the idea that little is much, and this little ring is going to revolutionize how we teach here.”
The expansion and success of the Honduras Deaf Project has resulted in a need to further the curriculum and send more visual aid materials. It is necessary to have one set of materials per student because the parents are so encouraged by their child’s progress that they have begun to take the materials home to practice.
A father of a deaf child within the program said, “They do miracles. Within two weeks of therapy my child is speaking.”
Cheryl Humphries explained, “The parents are very, very excited. They’re seeing results and starting to see that their child can be productive, hold a job, or that they are intelligent. It’s making a difference with the parents.”
One particular student has shown a vast improvement in a short period of time. This little boy named Franklin struggled with all communication, unaware of his name, until he started to attend the Honduras Deaf Project. He is now able to count easily to 20, knows 15 animal signs, recognizes colors, and is starting to put signs into sentences in order to speak.
This child is just one of many who are learning language and self-worth in a society of oppression. The Honduras Deaf Project is putting an end to this isolation for many, but there are still thousands in need.
The Humphries and the Logos International Ministry Association, in conjunction with Lee University students, hope to expand the deaf outreach throughout Honduras and other countries in Central America. The growth of the program has created a pressing need for more resources and land for a residential school.
The Honduras Deaf Project receives no governmental support or subsidies, but relies only on monthly giving. If you would like to be a part of this mission to change the lives of the deaf community in Honduras, please contact the Logos International Ministry Association at (843) 278-5734 or by email at logosima@juno.com . Those at the Honduras Deaf Project can also be reached through the Church of God, project number 065-0801.