Deaf Development Program where I work has a job training program where 40 young people from 16-25 learn sewing, motorcycle repair, cosmetology and woodcarving. The programs where they learn are in Phnom Penh at Wat Tham (a Buddhist temple with an education program for people with disabilities) and at Mit Samlanh (Street Friends, the school beneath my bedroom window.) The Deaf students from the provinces outside of Phnom Penh are housed in this hostel where they have after school activities and opportunities to learn social skills and community organizing. Young people are very protected in Khmer families and moreso if they have a disability. Many have never been to the marketplace or have never been outside their own provinces in their entire lives.


Since many of the young people do not read for themselves, the house rules are written in Khmer and summarized in photos of Cambodian Sign Language. This particular rule tells the students that everyone gets treated as partners and as equals. Other rules talk about not stealing, lying or destroying hostel properties.