New Zealand Sign Language Week

This past week was New Zealand Sign Language Week. A few years ago NZ made NZSL the third official language!!! The first two being English and Maori. New Zealand is the first and only (I think) country to have made their sign language an official language. There are heaps of other countries that recognize sign as a language but it is not official of that makes any sense. There were quite a few different things going on this week. I only went to a couple of them.

Last Thursday they had a film fest which featured two international films. The first one was about this English guy that had set up a home that Deaf and special needs kids that use sign language could come too. Not everyone was allowed to stay at the house since it was for a long term basis not short term. It was actually quite heartbreaking to watch. Most of the kids run away from home because their families treat them horribly and even beat them because they are considered handicap and retarded. Once kids leave they usually can't get back because they don't know their families name or the way back to their own house. A lot of them live on the streets. There was one boy that lived on the actual train tracks and he lived off of rats to survive. It mad me so grateful for everything that I do have. Sometimes I tend to think that since we have all of technology and luxurious amenities that stuff like that doesn't happen anymore. Sadly enough it does.

The next film was a documentary about 9/11 from a Deaf perspective. It was so interesting. Most of them didn't even really know what was happening. They knew that something was going on but they weren't exactly sure what. There was one guy that kept working at his desk until someone came and told him that he needed to leave. For most people they followed the crowd or someone was kind enough to let them know what was happening. There were 18 Deaf people that survived and 4 that died. Most of the people that died were because they worked higher up and were unable to make it down to safety. It was so sad to watch this especially since I remember this day so well.

The following night there was a play that was put on called words apart. It was incredible!! It was kind of a Romeo and Juliet type story about a deaf guy and a hearing girl that fell in love but there were barriers because they both came from two different worlds. My tutor and a girl in my class were the main leads in the play and they did such an amazing job.

Here is a news link that you can watch more about the play!!
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/call-better-services-sign-week-begins-2702184/video



Here are some more interesting links that you should check out if you have time!!

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Lifestyle/tabid/372/articleID/102809/cat/41/Default.aspx#video

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Nightline/tabid/368/articleID/103147/cat/17/Default.aspx#video

Overall it was an awesome week!!!