Expo

Expo


Last Monday (July 27th) Michelle and I went to the Expo at Albion Sports Complex. We had no idea what an Expo here would be. It ended up being like a fair- lots of food, rum, cheap trinkets, and some business promotional booths. It’s about 15 mins from us and it’s the same place we are having our Convention Aug 21-23.



Ramone and Kily Budden, a special pioneer couple from the states and also substitute Circuit Overseer who serve in ASL here in Guyana had a booth at the Expo educating the area about ASL. Ramone asked Michelle to help at the booth Monday afternoon and I got to tag along.



Below is a picture of a girl at the ASL booth w/headphones watching a video w/no sound. The video is of a little girl walking through a big city. It supposed to help hearing people understand what life is like to someone deaf. At the end of the 90 sec video the sound comes on… which by the way made me jump out of my skin. It’s amazing at how much we hear but don’t even think about it.




Another laptop had a video camera on it. The purpose is the do different facial expressions and then a picture is taken. This emphasizes how much facial expressions are involved w/ASL.


They also had a small TV w/DVD player showing a short film of a deaf girl who is an incredible violin player. It was very touching.


The majority of people here do not know what sign language is. We explained how it’s a way of speaking to deaf people. We also asked everyone that came by the booth if they know anyone who is deaf. The Budden’s left w/a list of addresses of deaf people who want them to visit so it was very successful. Below is a pic of Michelle Teaching some children the Alphabet in Sign.


Here is a picture of the Budden’s. They were in Brooklyn Bethel for 7 yrs and left to come to Guyana as need greaters. Their plan was to come here one year to see if they could handle a foreign assignment. Before the end of the year was up they were asked to stay as special pioneers and then just 2 mos ago they completed training for substitute circuit work. They are very nice and down to earth. They are in an ASL group (about 20 people) in New Amsterdam, which is about 30 mins from us.

We were not allowed to witness at the Expo but the sign at the booth (3rd Pic from beginning) clearly stated who we were. It was a very good witness.






After we were finished Michelle and I wondered around to the other booths. Since there are very few events here, this Expo is a VERY big deal. Since it has been a while since we had a night out, we had a blast. We got ice cream, cotton candy, took pictures of people and made a bit of a scene. Cameras are not very common here, especially with two American girls using it.



Everyone one was very nice to us. There was a booth not far from our’s that kept giving us “samples” of cold mix drinks. Even mocha and cappuccinos! Michelle never has caffeine so she was very energetic and cheerful toward the end of the night. There were even rides there! They were made of wood and looked slightly risky so we held back from getting on.