Introduction

Friends & Family,

Happy Holidays! As we close out the year 2010 - and the decade, as well - it is mind-blowing to think of all that has happened since the start of the millennium. GRO has been in existence for a mere three years and we are about to conduct our 11th delegation in India. ELEVENTH. We’ve made a positive impact on the lives of over 150 delegates, not to mention the lives that those delegates have impacted. The ripple effect of our “inspiration is contagious / pay it forward” philosophy continues to motivate us every day and make our work worthwhile.

The greatest source of support comes from our public at large. Without the support of family and friends, our del-egates could not participate in our programs. Without the generous donations, volunteer hours, and manpower of our respective communities, GRO could not continue to thrive as it does.

Secure in the proof-of-concept for our organization, the year of 2011 will be the year that GRO finally “arrives.” Our goal is to fundraise, fundraise, and fundraise some more! The to-do list includes lowering program fees to make it possible for more delegates to participate, subsidizing costs as much as possible for our host delegates, and providing annual insurance for our staff. Also on our long list of “wants” this holiday season: shore up our general operating fund and begin adding new programs and countries to our roster, as the waiting list is GROing. We want to continue in our mission and vision by providing resources for as many international deaf communities as we can.

With this newsletter, and in the spirit of the holiday season, we are pleased to launch our 2011 Fundraising Drive. To start off, GRO requested the kind favor from former delegate and long-time GRO supporter, Wyatte Hall (India Ban-galore ‘07), to create a mosaic that symbolizes the true spirit of GRO. Needless to say, the result of his endeavor on the adjoining page is beautiful! To make this fun, we invite all of you to visit puzzle.globalreachout.org to “buy” a piece for $10 and fill in the puzzle collectively. Our awesome webmaster, Jeff Fredrickson, worked hard to make this portal easy to use! You can either sign in with your Twitter/Facebook account, or sign up for a new account to donate.

There are other ways to donate as well. We have a DONATE! tab on our website. Some of our staff members are armed with Square card readers to accept credit/debit card payments in person. Cash/checks can be sent to our mailing address at the bottom of our website. You can also attend a GRO event to learn more about our organiza-tion. If you are interested in hosting an event in your own city, please contact info@globalreachout.org for more details or to receive a fundraising kit!

Last but not least, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our staff, volunteers, Board of Directors, and our other Friends of GRO. To describe all that they do would make this introduction extremely long and we would not even begin to scratch the surface. The hours they work are long and entirely voluntary - but the work they do does not go unnoticed. They all deserve a round of applause and a pat on the back!

Please do take the time to look through this newsletter, our website, become a fan on Facebook or Twitter, and bet-ter yet, apply to become a GRO delegate or volunteer to help GRO somehow! There’s still time to make 2011 New Year Resolutions, and one of the greatest resolutions a person can make is to give back to his/her community. It’s been a great year, you’ve all been amazing, and we look forward to what 2011 brings!

Happy Holidays!Katie CueSocial Media Director

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http://puzzle.globalreachout.org

Credits

Contributors

Editor in ChiefKatie Cue

News EditorLizzie Sorkin

Layout and Graphic DesignerAlice Lo

Copy EditorAvi Haimowitz

Violet Blake

Jesse Maleh

Dan Brubaker

Jennifer Campero

Glenn Lockhart

Katie Cue

Lizzie Sorkin

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Twitter Facebook Website

programassistant@globalreachout.org

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kenya@globalreachout.org

Thank You Paul Guo! by Lizzie Sorkin

Earlier this year, he volunteered to create a one-­minute animation for our various summer presentations conducted at the NAD conference and the World Deaf Expo in Las Vegas. He has never participated in any GRO trip, nor has he been involved in any meetings, but through email correspondence, Paul Guo was interested in helping us out.

GRO thrives on volunteerism, both locally and globally. Some people feel they have to travel out of America to vol-­unteer -­ that does not always have to be the case. Paul is an excellent example. He grew up in several countries: Mainland China, Canada, and America. Through childhood, most of his time was spent reading comic books, watch-­ing cartoons, and drawing at home;; that’s how he developed his awesome drawing skills!

1. Where does your inspiration come from?I usually get inspiration from thinking, daydreaming, and eating. Sometimes from conversation with friends and some (American and Asian) movies. I feel that laughter is the primary source of my inspiration.

2. What is your preferred material/media to work with?I prefer Apple computers and Wacom tablets to work with. I invest money and time in them more than in traditional media. And they’re less messy than traditional media too!

3. What other work experience do you have?I participated in this wonderful work experience, teaching ASL and a bit of English in Osaka, Japan. It was really challenging for me since it was outside of my skill area and I had to learn how to approach people who don’t share my language.

4. What do you enjoy during your free time?I enjoy reading Internet forums, comic books, and eating out with friends.

5. To close it off, what do you want to say to our subscribers?All you need is perseverance. It’s a must.

Paul, from all of us at GRO, thank you for your inspiration.

Paul created aone-­minuteanimation forpresentations.

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Violet's Motorbike Because of Theodore, I un-­derstand what it feels like to love someone uncondi-­tionally and to believe that

I would do anything to help him/her. Over the summer in Africa, I worked with many children and every one of them was precious to me. But Theo-­dore, a sweet seven year old, was the one who caught my heart. Many chil-­dren ride on a motorbike with their parents, who bring them from home to school and back. Some of them live near the school, so they walk in-­stead. But everyone knew that was not Theodore’s case. His family is poor, so poor they could not afford a motorbike. To get to school and back, Theodore and his father walked about 10 miles altogether everyday. Loving this little boy, I couldn’t just come back and do nothing about it. Theodore’s family knew my dream

of bringing Theodore with me to America. On my last day in Africa, Theodore’s father wrote me a heart-­felt letter reminding me not to for-­get my project to bring Theodore to America, and that he needed my help to get him a motorbike. I was determined to help out. If I couldn’t bring Theodore back with me just yet, then this was the least I could do for the boy I loved like my own son. I originally planned on saving my

own money -­ up to $1,000 -­ then wir-­ing it to Theodore’s father. But then I realized it was hard to save up that much if I wanted to get it to them as soon as possible. Fortunately, with the support of my roommate, Leila Hanaumi, the Editor in Chief for Gallaudet University’s student news-­paper The Buff and Blue, I wrote an article asking people to help by do-­nating money for Theodore’s motor-­bike. And boy, did I get wonderful results! I was filled with speechless joy when I received $1,366 dollars in a couple of weeks! I wired the money as soon as I received the final sum, and then just a couple of days later, I received the photos of Theodore’s new motorbike. I shed happy tears: my dream came true. It’s amazing how love makes you do such a thing. Anything is possible if you believe in it. It wasn’t just me who made a difference in a family’s life, but everyone who helped out, too. Be-­cause of this wonderful outcome, I sincerely believe every one of us can help anyone, if we work collectively.

My love is always with you, Theodore.

by Violet Blake

Theodore and his father pose with their new motorbike above &top left.

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by Jesse Maleh

I was born on December 20th. The year isn’t relevant, but according to all those astrology freaks out there, I’m a Sagittarius which apparently means I’m stubborn, passionate, a natural-­born leader, and one who thrives on competition. They couldn’t be more right, so when I was given the chance to participate in GRO’s 2010 Amazing Race in Washington DC, I jumped on that like white on rice.

The first order of business was forming a team of five members. Through a series of emails bounced from iPhones to Blackberries to personal computers, a team was formed that consisted of myself, Michelle Koplitz, Rachel Rose, Benjamin Harden, and Wyatte Hall. The second order of business was drumming up a team name. It was here the team hit its first challenge in cooperation as a flurry of names were brought on the table. I freely admit that my control freakishness first emerged here, as I banged out an order to pick a final name from a list that I de-­vised. Rachel Rose, being the clever girl she is, decided that our team name would be an amalgamation of all the suggested names, and thus Team Awesomesauce Fairy Vampire Teaparty Baggers of Winnerville was born.

I had seen similar urban races play out in DC before and always noticed that the couples were dressed up in weird, zany outfits. It always made me wish I was involved so I swore that my team and I would do the same for this event. I told them that I would provide accessories relating to the team name as long as ev-­eryone wore black or dark clothing. Later that week, everyone involved met at the Monument for the be-­ginning of the race and also where we would receive our first clue before beginning the mad dash across Washington DC. Maryland and Virginia had time allowed but that part comes later. I came bearing gifts of vampire teeth, striped colored socks, fake blood, glitter, and a personal set of green fairy wings for myself.

Fast forwarding through the introductions, the rules, the acknowledgements (all very important stuff): so began the race! In addition to being told that we could only use public transportation or our own two feet and given a metro card each, the teams were given a few dozen strips of paper, each with a different clue on it. It was up to us to solve the clue and once this was done, a photo with every member of the team was required to be taken with the landmark and/

Team Awesomesauce Fairy Vam-­pire Teaparty Baggers of Win-­

nersville poses at thestart line.

Amazing Race contestants anx-­iously await the results at the

Espresso Bar in Washington D.C.

D-­Echipa displays some spirit

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or building in the background. Team Awesomesauce huddled on the ground and all of us furiously took turns solving as many clues as we could. We wrote the answers on the same strips of paper so we could organize what route we’d be taking, instead of solving the clues on the go and discovering we’d have to backtrack. This was perhaps the height of our unity and proved little challenge to us since we are all insanely intelligent people. Perhaps five percent of the clues escaped our grasp, and realizing time was ticking down, we set out on our mission to obliterate our competition.

It quickly became clear that the team was composed of two equally passionate and stubborn leaders, myself and Rachel. As we ran across the city, snapping photos, drawing the gaze of thousands of onlookers, catching our breaths when we could, the stress of acquiring the clues began to amass. I would shout out encouragements and that we needed to pick up the pace and others would take their time, figuring out what our next step was. It soon reached a fever pitch near the end of the National Mall series of clues as a shouting match between Rachel and I brought the team to a screeching halt. It would not be the last.

As we rode the metro, figuring out which landmarks to eliminate, I grew in-­credibly frustrated with the idea of giving up any of them, despite the fact we one hundred percent knew the answers. It was here that I needed some-­one else to knock me down a peg or two and remind me of the reality of the situation;; time was running out quickly and we needed to be at the finish line by 4PM or face disqualification. I had truly believed we could acquire every single clue and to let go of that belief was a hard thing to do;; I temporarily lost sight of the fact that this was a team project, and it was for GRO and for the sake of enjoying healthy competition. So I simmered down and realized that we were doing what we set out to do and that was to spread the message of GRO across the city. Due to the fact that we were dressed in brightly colored socks and a grown bald Jewish man was running around with green fairy wings, we attracted a lot of attention and every now and then, some-­one would come up to us and ask what we were doing. It was in these moments that things came to a standstill and the team members took turns informing the onlookers what we were doing and why we were doing it. GRO was designed to spread awareness in deaf culture across the globe to countries with limited access to resources.

Some team members began to doubt themselves towards the final leg of the race as the pressure to make it to the finish line on time mounted. But the team pulled together and we coached each other, reaf-­firmed our faith in each other, and cheered ourselves for standing by each other as a cohesive unit that ran, laughed, yelled, debated, pondered, sweat, among a host of other actions and emotions, all together.

And of course, we made it on time to Sova, the coffeehouse that marked the finish line. And of course, we won. I never had any doubt. Not for a single second. And yes, I may have ripped a hole in my shoe and bloodied my-­self all over the metro train car, but it was all worth it. Passion was what drove our team and passion was why we won. And I truly thank GRO for giving us the opportunity to spend a day feeling like gods. Rachel and I will be back next year with anyone lucky enough to have us and we will win again. And again. But with a shorter name, definitely. In the meantime, long live Team Awesomesauce Fairy Vampire Teaparty Baggers of Winnerville!

Team Lucky Charms pose in front

the Washington Monument.

needed break while searchingfor clues.

Team Calvin & Hobbes posesfor a group picture.

Team Dirty Thirty preparesfor an Amazing Race!

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Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;;

Oh! what fun it is to ride in

a one-­horse open sleigh.

[brake! stop!] Reality check... Yes, yes, it’s not snowing now here in Se-­attle, and when a rare snowstorm (leaving even a few inches) comes along, it almost automatically sends this city into a tailspin.

tailspin [‘teI|,spIn]n1. (Engineering / Aeronautics) Aero-­nautics: another name for spin [16].2. Informal a state of confusion or panic

As board members of GRO, it’s our role to ensure that GRO doesn’t go into a tailspin. Even though this or-­ganization is young, we are continu-­ally mapping our roads and goals. And it requires dedication and com-­mitment.

We are very, very fortunate to have a WONDERFUL staff who continues to carry this organization with abso-­lute passion. Their dedication and belief in this organization is beyond amazing. The board was formed a bit more than a year ago, which pretty much aligns with the growth of this organization. It is a way of formalizing.

by Dan Brubaker

In the upcoming months and years, the GRO board and staff will work together in paving our vision, in-­cluding building and strengthening our foundation, bylaws, fundrais-­ing, projects and goals – both short and long-­term -­ including maintain-­ing our 501(c)3 status. It will also include open dialogue and possibly forming alliances with other orga-­nizations that follow similar ideo-­logues and objectives with deaf peo-­ple on a global scale.

Why did I accept the responsibility of being on the GRO board? I’ll ad-­mit that it was because of one very simple and mutual passion that we share. I have done leadership train-­ing with deaf youth in Germany, Thailand and Russia. With my trav-­els around the world, I have seen a great need of mentorship-­type lead-­ership training amongst deaf youth in many developing countries. With that, our own deaf youth would ben-­efit by contributing their skills as well as broadening their knowledge and resources with each other.

Another factor as to why I chose to serve on the GRO board is the pas-­sion of the entire GRO staff, includ-­ing the executive director. Even if that’s the only reason, it’s a very good one! The staff believes and invests in this organization, even on a voluntary basis. And that is called CHOICE! They could be sit-­ting back, their flip flops dangling in the air, chatting away their dreams or ideas... Instead, they’re hard at work and trying to find solutions for obstacles that come their way.

I’m a strong believer of teaching a

person how to fish, instead of fish-­ing for the person. And I feel that GRO’s model of mentorship is on the right track. GRO works with a host country for approximately 5 years with developing resources that the country can use to become self-­sufficient and run programs on their own. A very good example is the Ke-­nya Youth Leadership Camp (KYLC), which held its second session last summer. It’s all about developing relationships that will last a lifetime.

And it’s with sincere hope that you also share GRO’s vision, and that you will consider donating your time or money so that GRO can continue working and expanding its objec-­tives.

CHOOSE: Soar with GRO! Or en-­ter a tailspin? The answer should be easy, no? Join us, and get GROovy!

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This year, Texas School for the Deaf’s (TSD) high school is now offering an International Studies program in partnership with a non-­profit organization, Global Reach Out (www.globalreachout.org). The goal is to expand opportunities for high school students to work with Deaf youth in Guatemala who are in need of additional resources and community support. Our nine students will experience cultural enrichment, and

they will also become global citizens for our school and beyond. Under the instruction of Ms. Jennifer Campero, TSD high school students are currently learning about Guatemala’s geography, history, people, food, language, and much more.

During TSD’s spring break (March 2010), the class will go on a trip to Guatemala, and each TSD student will pair with a deaf Guatemalan to share cultural experiences and learn from each other. Our TSD students will also educate their Guatemalan peers on taking leadership roles in their community. We will also travel to Tikal National Park to learn more about Mayan history.

TSD students and their parents have been working on different fundraising activities to help raise money to cover some of the expenses for this trip. They are currently selling Guatemalan products: worry doll key chains, beaded bracelets, and friendship bracelets. If anyone is interested in purchasing any of these items, please contact one of our students or Jennifer Campero. Students are also preparing a dinner and show which will be held in January. In the show, the students will give performances showcasing Mayan legends. Be on the lookout for our flyer.

Remember, your support will open the door for our high school students to be able to go on this trip to make a dif-­ference and inspire future generations.*To contribute to TSD fundraising efforts, contact Jennifer Campero at jennifer.campero@tsd.state.tx.us

by Jennifer Campero

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GRO: Changing Communities of Equals

We’re all about communication. And at its most basic definition, communication is an exchange of ideas.

Global Reach Out has been doing exactly that. In three years they’ve organized 10 trips for over 150 deaf youth to the following countries: Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya and Thailand.

Their mission? To export know-­how to deaf communities in developing countries. However, GRO takes a peer-­to-­peer approach, meaning both sides meet as equals. The delegates step out of their comfort zones, communicate in a new, local sign language often for the first time, and stretch their minds wide open.

“It’s win-­win,” said Alim Chandani, founder and executive director of GRO. “Everyone exchanges knowledge and our

delegates shift their understanding into a global context.”GRO’s story starts in 2005 when founder and executive director Alim Chandani and fellow GRO staffer Smitha Hanumantha were the only deaf participants on a trip to Cambodia. However, their group wasn’t going over there with the attitude of helping the Cambodians. “There were two groups, the Americans and the Cambodians, and we worked together,” explained Alim.

This was Alim’s first exposure to the peer-­to-­peer out-­reach. “I was inspired. I felt a connection, and I wanted

by Glenn Lockhart

Editor’s Note: this article originally appeared on Convo Relay’s blog: http://www.convorelay.com/blog/ on

November 23, 2010 and is reprinted with their permission.

more of that.” He wanted to bring this concept to the international deaf community.

He expands on this in his 12-­minute TEDxIslay pre-­sentation from last summer, entirely in ASL:

Alim built on this experience by coordinating a part-­nership with PEN-­International and leading an all-­deaf delegation to the Philippines in spring 2006. He hasn’t slowed down since.

GRO was officially founded in 2007. Back then and also today, a team of volunteers run GRO from their home offices, which often actually are their bedrooms. “We’re still growing,” says Alim. They also rely on a network of GRO alumni spread throughout the coun-­try for support such as publicity, fundraising, design work, and various other logistics.

We met the GRO folks for the first time at a recent f o u r -­ d a y deaf expo;; our booths were across from each other and after intro-­d u c t i o n s , we stayed in touch. Last October we sponsored a fundraiser GRO held in Roch-­

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ester for GRO’s upcoming delegation to India this win-­ter.Convo knows we Americans have it different compared with much of the world. GRO delegates, however, ex-­perience that firsthand. Each delegation often goes without the communication access that we have: Sign language interpreters, stable high-­speed Internet con-­nectivity, and even VRS.

Thailand is an example. Says Katie Cue, GRO social me-­dia director and a team leader of a GRO Thailand del-­egation in 2008, “At the time, the entire country had just a handful of interpreters and interpreting training programs had only recently been formed.”

Also, elsewhere, VRS is a distant dream: Added Katie, “Internet connection is often iffy;; people aren’t always able to afford computers and Internet cafes can be ex-­pensive for those who are poor or lack basic computer skills.”

So how do GRO delegates communicate when they visit a country? “GRO supports each region’s own sign lan-­guage system as the primary language used during del-­egations, but there are so many spoken languages and outside influences,” said Katie. “For example, communi-­cation is a big issue in India with Indian Sign Language being dominated by a patchwork of sign systems derived from multiple localized sign languages as well as BSL and ASL.”

GRO hopes to achieve more, and we hope to do more with them.

But why? After all, what do we have in common with GRO anyway? We provide technology;; they preach tech-­niques. Our scope is domestic;; theirs is international. We strengthen deaf-­hearing connections;; they develop deaf-­deaf connections.

However, the similarities overpower the differences — we came to identify with GRO and saw that: Both Convo and GRO are deaf-­operated;; both Convo and GRO want to knock down barriers;; and most important, both Con-­vo and GRO want to create opportunities toward deaf empowerment and advancement.

And we share a common belief: That communication can create change.

Up next for GRO is a winter trip to India and two trips have already been scheduled for 2011. We’d like to leave you with a snippet from GRO’s website: “We believe in the domino effect: if one delegate is inspired to work to-­wards social change, many more will follow. Inspiration is contagious!”

If you’ve been infected… please watch Tamer Mahmoud, India 2010 delegation director, talk about how you can participate:

You can visit GRO and follow them on Twitter.

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G L O B A L R E A C H O U T

SpreadingInspirationby Katie Cue, Social Media Director

The Global Reach Out Initiative (GRO) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 orga-­nization that travels to developing countries to work with deaf youth on issues such as leadership, empower-­ment, health education, and commu-­nity development through programs called Delegations. The organiza-­tion’s goal is not to dictate to the locals what should be done;; rather, GRO believes in the concept of peer-­topeer advocacy.

GRO utilizes the innovative peer-­to-­peer approach under the broader ideal of grassroots advocacy: active support of an idea or cause for and by the common person. With this

approach, everyone becomes an agent for change working together to achieve shared goals. In short, each individual is an equal member of a larger group that functions un-­der principles of mutual respect, ac-­countability, collaboration, and sus-­tainability.

GRO was inspired by participation in a Global Youth Connect delega-­tion to Cambodia in the summer of 2005. Even though this organization consisted entirely of hearing people, it welcomed two deaf delegates: AlimChandani and Smitha Hanuman-­tha. During the delegation, Alim and Smitha were first exposed to the idea of the peer-­to-­peer strategy as well as sending delegations to devel-­oping countries. These ideas, com-­bined with the duo’s love of travel, led them to analyze their past expe-­riences and come to the realization that the international deaf commu-­nity was sorely lacking in a few keyareas: deaf role models, advocacy, knowledge, leadership, and empow-­

erment. The seed of GRO was plant-­ed and began to take shape over the next year.

After much discussion regarding the idea of peer-­to-­peer delegations as well as the collection of opinions from the community, GRO tested the waters with a pilot Delegation to the Philippines along with PENInterna-­tional during the spring of 2006. Anylingering doubts were quickly dissi-­pated after the successes of the pilot Delegation, and GRO was officially incorporated in the spring of 2007. Having passed the proof-­of-­conceptstage, GRO enjoyed its first official

Delegation to Thailand in the spring of 2007 followed by its second and third Delegations to Mumbai, India

Editor’s Note: This article was originally written for the World Federation of the Deaf’s winter newsletter and is

reprinted with their permission.

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Program Coordinator Anita Kurian explains the concept of peer-­to-­peer

during GRO India 2009*

GRO India Mumbai 2007 Delegates pose for a group picture*

GRO India 2009 Delegates*

and Bangalore, India. The followingyear, GRO kept its promise of sustainability with a re-­turn visit to Thailand in the spring of 2008. The year of 2009 saw huge growth withthe addition of Guatemala and Honduras (spring), Ke-­nya (summer), and the year concluded with a return visit to India (winter).

The growth has only continued with two Delegations in 2010 (Guatemala and Kenya) and another scheduled in India this winter. To date, GRO has conducted ten Del-­egations, with three more scheduled, and several more in the works. Over 150 youth have participated in GRO over the past three years and the impact of GRO is slow-­ly becoming evident. Additionally, GRO has an all vol-­unteer staff of eight people working in various capaci-­ties, as well as a great network of program coordinators and points of contact in other countries. They are all excellent people who believe in the mission and vision of GRO with their heart and soul.

Build, understand, lead, and empower: that is the goal of each GRO Delegation. A typical Delegation consists of a group of youths traveling to a host country, and they begin to learn more about the culture and language through a GRO tradition known as “The Amazing Race.”After that, the visiting Delegates meet with the host Delegates and begin the bonding process which lays the foundation for the work that will be accomplished to-­gether. Part of the process involves recognizing shared experiences, role-­playing, discerning the problems and needs of the host country, and working together to brainstorm approaches and/or solutions for addressing the host country’s self-­identified needs Communication

G L O B A L R E A C H O U T

and cultural barriers are part of the learning processand indirectly teach skills related to collaboration and problem solving. As such, each Delegation is unique, depending upon the needs of the deaf community in the host country.

Part of the many advantages of the peer-­to-­peer ap-­proach is that host country Delegates can, in between Delegations, continue the work started since they have ownership. The visiting GRO Delegates often return home with a renewed vigor to give back to their own communities;; the ripple effect of participating in a GRO Delegation is tremendous. For more information or to become involved, GRO maintains a website (www.glo-­balreachout.org) along with Twitter (@globalreachout) and Facebook accounts, and also distributes quarterly newsletters. If you think your community could benefit from a GRO Delegation, or if you’d like to participate in one, contact us at info@globalreachout.org

*Due to space constraints, we were not able to name

all those who appeared in our pictures. Please see our

website for the names of our Staff, Board Members,

and all.

GRO Guatemala 2010 Delegates pose for agroup picture*

2010*

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by Lizzie Sorkin

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Forever Our VisionGROing Our HistoryOur Purpose Our StoryOur Mission

Global Reach Out Initiative (GRO) is designed to build a global network of Deaf youth who unite to improve the quality of life for Deaf members within their home communities. Many developing countries do not enforce human rights for their Deaf citizens;; consequentially, their ability to suc-­ceed in various spheres of life is limited. GRO is more than just an outreach organization that helps others -­ it seeks to empower Deaf youth in a mutual way by bringing together American and foreign delegates.

Many organizations currently exist to serve deaf communities internation-­ally, but none exist that utilizes a peer-­to-­peer model to ensure that em-­powerment, rather than dependency, is the result of their collaboration. The peer delegates combine their experiences as Deaf people and their ca-­pacities in leadership to create and present workshops related to specific issues in their Deaf communities. Our goal is to encourage independence in all delegates;; we expect them to establish communication networks that exist long after the delegation itself is over.

We believe unity is the first step in resisting oppression. It may be idealis-­tic, but many successful policies for social changes were and are often dis-­missed as impossible. GRO believes that social change in the global Deaf community is possible, and it strives to create a world in which deafness does not foster oppression;; instead it creates empowerment.

GRO provides a solution by establishing cross-­cultural relationships that empower deaf youth in the U.S. and developing countries so that both groups feel motivated to accomplish goals that strengthen awareness and enforcement of Deaf rights. GRO’s programs are designed to push young members of Deaf communities worldwide to recognize their capacities as leaders and to work to obtain educational and social resources for them-­selves as well as others.

www.globalreachout.org

P.O. Box 57269, Washington D.C., 20037