2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law that prohibits the discrimination of people with different physical and mental abilities. For Deaf individuals, the ADA has improved access to employment, made closed captioning more prevalent, and helped Deaf children in public schools get the interpreters they needed to receive a quality education.
Although improvements still need to be made in the U.S. to better educational access for deaf children, conditions in Nicaragua are far more severe. A Deaf child growing up in the low-income countryside likely has no access to educational resources they can benefit from, and can usually only communicate through homesign and gestures.
Although Nicaraguan law technically promises an education for all children with differing abilities, there are very few monetary resources to back it, and few ways to hold the government accountable for inadequate programs.
Please help us connect these kids with the sign language and educational programs they need to be able to communicate, learn and work alongside their families and peers! Join our Gold Circle Membership by setting up a recurring $9 monthly tax-deductible donation to our program! Give today.