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One of the joys of visiting the DMI schools is meeting such colourful characters. You know, the ones who stand out because they’re just so funny or talented or ridiculous or just… colourful. Every community has them and the DMI schools are no exception. And here at the Fishermen of Christ Learning Center in Ligao in the Philippines I have had the pleasure of meeting a character of such effervescence that I can’t resist interviewing her.
Her name is Jeizabille C Ocang.
Jeizabille is a firecracker. She just loves to talk (in sign). Never stops. She is a deaf chatterbox. If hearing people ‘chew your ear off’ then Jeizabille ‘pokes your eye out’. She doesn’t want to answer my questions so much as she just wants to tell her stories. So I give her free reign. In doing so I feel I have unleashed a drama. She barely finishes one topic before she changes to another and talks about music or sport or Trey or something else, at times seeming to contradict herself, yet having a wonderful time anyway. And she’s noisy!
Jeizabille is new to the school. Following complications from a broken family background, she transferred in from Manilla last June. We know that she’s 14 years old but have little other information about her and that’s how it sometimes starts. Initially we were told that she had had no previous education, so she has entered the school in kindergarten. She’s fine with this and has no problem being with little kids.
But more recently we received updated information from another school in Manilla suggesting that Jeizabille was actually in grade 3. But it could be someone else with the same name. It’s not clear and the bureaucracy is slow to help sometimes. These are the challenges of educating children with uncertain backgrounds. But Jeizabille is happy to be here at the school and enjoys her classes, her dorm and the whole environment.
It’s because Jeizabille is so new to the school that I want to interview her (other than her being so animated, of course). Most of those I interview have been here a long time and are near the end of their tenure. I want to hear the thoughts of someone who has just started; hear their first impressions while they’re fresh. With Jeizabille though, this is proving to be a challenge.
She does respond to tell me that she is enjoying her life at the school very much. She has made a good friend in Erica in grade 7. She enjoys the food here. And then there’s Trey, of course. I’m not sure exactly what she’s talking about but before I can ask she rolls on to tell me that she would like to stay here until her graduation.
I ask her about her favourite classes here at the school but this is quite possibly the lamest question she has ever heard so she tells that she has a phone and PC at home but she has to learn to put those aside now to focus on school work but it’s hard because she loves to take selfies with a selfie stick and she can’t stop so she’s kind of glad to be here with no phone and PC because it’s nice to be free from them even though she loves them but when her guardian comes back she’s looking forward to using them again.
Wow.
Having watched her participation in the morning assembly, I comment on how well she dances. How can she dance to the beat so well? As she can’t hear anything it’s obviously from feeling the vibrations of the beat, but with a wave of her hand she dismisses this and, smirking, tells me that it’s all from the heart. I find myself believing every word she says.
She hates cooking. She gets quite angry when I ask about it. Why would I even ask about it?! Of all the things to bring up! She likes dancing, remember? And studying and drawing. She likes sport, especially frisbee. And Trey. I tell her that you can get frisbee scholarships to U.S. universities and she likes the sound of that. She says she likes English and the U.S. and would like to go there one day.
It’s only since she arrived at the school that she started going to church and she really likes it. I ask her why. She says she likes to see people praying. It fascinates her. She likes to see their sign prayers, and she likes singing in sign, too. She has really enjoyed having the mission team from the Huntington Beach First Christian Church in California join us here and the lessons and games they have brought.
Yet as much as Jeizabille seems to enjoy life at the school and clearly benefits from it, she doesn’t seem to appreciate the opportunity to be here as much as the others do. She’s still young and new here of course, but she offers no thanks or gratitude for what she is receiving and this raises an interesting matter for me and, I believe, for you too as a supporter of DMI. Why do we do what we do? Why do we go out of our way to support those who would otherwise be destitute? Is it to receive thanks? Is it to be recognised? Is it because it’s our Christian duty? Surely it’s none of these. We do what we do because the love of Christ compels us. We love others because we were first loved by God. We pray for others because we desire to see God bless them. We give to others because they are also children of God, made in His image and loved by Him. We are loving God when we are loving others.
At the end of the interview, I’m a little weary, but I ask her, as I have asked all the interviewees, if she would like to ask me a question. Unlike all the others, she leaps at the chance before suddenly going on to tell me a story about her school life and how she is preparing for the sad day when the American missions team leave. Then she asks my age. I ask her how old she thinks I am. She says 18. The interpreter and I laugh and she says not me but Trey – one of the handsome American high school boys on the missions team here. He’s 18. She talks about Trey a lot. I think she really likes him. Come to think of it, that might be the main reason that she wants to visit the U.S. one day.
If you would like to know how you can support Jeizabille or any of the kids or teachers at DMI’s schools, or help meet any of DMI’s needs, please click on the donate button below, or mail to info@deafmin.org
Great interview Andrew, and a good point about why we give.