Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Giving voice to the voiceless - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
Actions may speak louder than words, but for people born with varying degrees of hearing impairment, like the young students of the Joseph Gualandi School of the Hearing-Impaired, the ability or inability to speak spells the difference between empowerment and isolation.
This is the core message that a group of individuals, led by Deanna Ongpin-Recto, Miko Liwanag, Edwin Wilwayco, Christian Espiritu and Bubot de los Santos, wants to impart in launching “Love Out Loud, an Art Auction to Give Deaf Kids a Voice.”
The auction, composed of 50 works of art by the likes of BenCab, Magsaysay-Ho, Sanso, Abueva and Valdemor, will be done primarily through silent bidding at the main gallery of the Cultural Center of the Philippines from Feb. 1-8.
“It’s a common misconception that kids who are born deaf can’t speak as well,” said Liwanag, an architect and president of the St. Francis de Sales Hearing-Impaired Foundation. “They’re unable to speak because they’re not exposed to any kind of sound to begin with.”
And since vocal chords tend to atrophy when not in use, Liwanag, through the foundation he represents, advocates early intervention.
Through the auditory aural approach, a system pioneered by a group of Italian nuns from the Sisters of the Little Mission for the Deaf, teaching hearing-impaired children as young as 2 how to speak is now doable.
In keeping with the vision of its founder, Fr. Joseph Gualandi, the Bologna-based mission has been at the forefront of educating and administering to the needs of the hearing-impaired “from cradle to grave” since 1874, said Liwanag.
The nuns have established missions in Italy, Brazil, the Congo and, since 1988, the Philippines. Locally, they have so far established operations in Manila, Cebu and Naga. And such presence has started to make a difference among countless hearing-impaired Filipino children and their families.
Miracle
Two months after enrolling at Joseph Gualandi, for example, a timid and speechless little girl was able to say the words “I love you, Mama,” albeit a bit robotic-sounding, in front of a microphone during the school’s “Language Week” program. Those who witnessed it, including the girl’s parents, were reduced to tears and considered it a miracle.
Indeed, it was a touching experience as Recto, CCP’s former artistic director and a veteran in organizing fund-raising and art-related projects, found out for herself soon after visiting the school in Las Piñas.
“I was impressed and moved by what I witnessed,” said Recto, the auction’s honorary chairperson. “They all sounded different, but as a whole they were all very intelligent and enthusiastic.”
This convinced her all the more to support the project by appealing to her artist-friends to donate a piece or two for the auction. Most of the works are outright donations, while a small number will be sold on a proceed-sharing basis.
The project is a brainchild of Wilwayco and De los Santos, who, together with Espiritu, eventually identified the Joseph Gualandi School of the Hearing-Impaired as the auction’s sole beneficiary.
“One of Edwin’s sources of inspiration when he paints is music,” said Recto. “One day it occurred to him how incomplete his art and life would be without the ability to hear anything.”
The artist soon found sympathetic ears, so to speak, in De los Santos, a writer and art patron, and Espiritu, a former fashion designer and now editor of a village-based publication in Ayala-Alabang.
Aside from tapping Recto, the group sought the help of Cirio Cinco and his creative team from Ace Saatchi. The ad man was responsible for coining “Love out Loud,” while one of his artists did the project’s logo.
Limiting and frustrating
Deaf people are not as isolated as we think they are. For one, they can learn to read lips and to communicate through sign language. Actually, it’s often the world of the able that has woefully failed to reach out to them.
“They can be thought to speak among themselves through sign language,” said Liwanag, “but what if they want to venture out into the world? It can be quite limiting and frustrating for them to be unable to fully express themselves.”
Teaching hearing-impaired children, however, is no one-shot approach and requires constant follow-ups as the nuns and teachers behind the school learned.
Envisioned as an informal tutorial center for preschoolers almost two decades ago, the school, which now has a student population of 43, has become a Department of Education-accredited institution offering classes from nursery to Grade III.
“Although initial batches of students learned the basics of how to speak, they soon lost the ability to communicate orally once they moved to a regular school,” Liwanag explained.
To make a long story short, people behind the school took matters into their own hands by expanding its operations in 2004. Thus, the school’s first batch of kindergarten graduates are now almost halfway through with their elementary education.
“They add a grade level every year to accommodate the first batch of students as they advance,” said Liwanag. “The nuns dream of someday expanding their operations up to the high school level.”
But doing so require a considerable amount of money. Apart from hiring teachers who majored in special education, the nuns still have to train them to conduct classes using the mission’s trademark auditory aural approach. To further add to their burden, majority of the students are on scholarship.
“The foundation needs to constantly come up with new ways to raise money for the school,” said Liwanag. “Through this auction, we hope to generate P1.5 million.”
Written bids
Throughout the auction week (Feb. 1-8), the public is invited to make written bids on paintings, sculptures and prints. They need not be rich and seasoned art collectors to make a bid, as the art pieces have starting prices that are 40-percent less than they would normally fetch at established galleries.
Even Filipinos abroad and those who can’t go to CCP may bid via the auction’s website (www.loveoutloudauction.com). Or call CCP at 8321125 loc. 2109, or Pinky Campiglio at 4736751 or 0917-609-2280.
The event will culminate in a live bidding on the evening of Feb. 9, also at the CCP main gallery, where artworks of some of the country’s National Artists and recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit and CCP’s 13 Artists Awards, will be auctioned off a la Sotheby’s by Leo Rialp and Apa Ongpin.
Unlike in the silent bidding, the live auction will commence with the highest written bids as the starting prices.
“In exchange for some money, you can bring home a work of art, which is bound to appreciate in time,” said Recto. “Plus, you will have helped these hearing-impaired children by literally giving them a voice through education.”
Actions may speak louder than words, but for people born with varying degrees of hearing impairment, like the young students of the Joseph Gualandi School of the Hearing-Impaired, the ability or inability to speak spells the difference between empowerment and isolation.
This is the core message that a group of individuals, led by Deanna Ongpin-Recto, Miko Liwanag, Edwin Wilwayco, Christian Espiritu and Bubot de los Santos, wants to impart in launching “Love Out Loud, an Art Auction to Give Deaf Kids a Voice.”
The auction, composed of 50 works of art by the likes of BenCab, Magsaysay-Ho, Sanso, Abueva and Valdemor, will be done primarily through silent bidding at the main gallery of the Cultural Center of the Philippines from Feb. 1-8.
“It’s a common misconception that kids who are born deaf can’t speak as well,” said Liwanag, an architect and president of the St. Francis de Sales Hearing-Impaired Foundation. “They’re unable to speak because they’re not exposed to any kind of sound to begin with.”
And since vocal chords tend to atrophy when not in use, Liwanag, through the foundation he represents, advocates early intervention.
Through the auditory aural approach, a system pioneered by a group of Italian nuns from the Sisters of the Little Mission for the Deaf, teaching hearing-impaired children as young as 2 how to speak is now doable.
In keeping with the vision of its founder, Fr. Joseph Gualandi, the Bologna-based mission has been at the forefront of educating and administering to the needs of the hearing-impaired “from cradle to grave” since 1874, said Liwanag.
The nuns have established missions in Italy, Brazil, the Congo and, since 1988, the Philippines. Locally, they have so far established operations in Manila, Cebu and Naga. And such presence has started to make a difference among countless hearing-impaired Filipino children and their families.
Miracle
Two months after enrolling at Joseph Gualandi, for example, a timid and speechless little girl was able to say the words “I love you, Mama,” albeit a bit robotic-sounding, in front of a microphone during the school’s “Language Week” program. Those who witnessed it, including the girl’s parents, were reduced to tears and considered it a miracle.
Indeed, it was a touching experience as Recto, CCP’s former artistic director and a veteran in organizing fund-raising and art-related projects, found out for herself soon after visiting the school in Las Piñas.
“I was impressed and moved by what I witnessed,” said Recto, the auction’s honorary chairperson. “They all sounded different, but as a whole they were all very intelligent and enthusiastic.”
This convinced her all the more to support the project by appealing to her artist-friends to donate a piece or two for the auction. Most of the works are outright donations, while a small number will be sold on a proceed-sharing basis.
The project is a brainchild of Wilwayco and De los Santos, who, together with Espiritu, eventually identified the Joseph Gualandi School of the Hearing-Impaired as the auction’s sole beneficiary.
“One of Edwin’s sources of inspiration when he paints is music,” said Recto. “One day it occurred to him how incomplete his art and life would be without the ability to hear anything.”
The artist soon found sympathetic ears, so to speak, in De los Santos, a writer and art patron, and Espiritu, a former fashion designer and now editor of a village-based publication in Ayala-Alabang.
Aside from tapping Recto, the group sought the help of Cirio Cinco and his creative team from Ace Saatchi. The ad man was responsible for coining “Love out Loud,” while one of his artists did the project’s logo.
Limiting and frustrating
Deaf people are not as isolated as we think they are. For one, they can learn to read lips and to communicate through sign language. Actually, it’s often the world of the able that has woefully failed to reach out to them.
“They can be thought to speak among themselves through sign language,” said Liwanag, “but what if they want to venture out into the world? It can be quite limiting and frustrating for them to be unable to fully express themselves.”
Teaching hearing-impaired children, however, is no one-shot approach and requires constant follow-ups as the nuns and teachers behind the school learned.
Envisioned as an informal tutorial center for preschoolers almost two decades ago, the school, which now has a student population of 43, has become a Department of Education-accredited institution offering classes from nursery to Grade III.
“Although initial batches of students learned the basics of how to speak, they soon lost the ability to communicate orally once they moved to a regular school,” Liwanag explained.
To make a long story short, people behind the school took matters into their own hands by expanding its operations in 2004. Thus, the school’s first batch of kindergarten graduates are now almost halfway through with their elementary education.
“They add a grade level every year to accommodate the first batch of students as they advance,” said Liwanag. “The nuns dream of someday expanding their operations up to the high school level.”
But doing so require a considerable amount of money. Apart from hiring teachers who majored in special education, the nuns still have to train them to conduct classes using the mission’s trademark auditory aural approach. To further add to their burden, majority of the students are on scholarship.
“The foundation needs to constantly come up with new ways to raise money for the school,” said Liwanag. “Through this auction, we hope to generate P1.5 million.”
Written bids
Throughout the auction week (Feb. 1-8), the public is invited to make written bids on paintings, sculptures and prints. They need not be rich and seasoned art collectors to make a bid, as the art pieces have starting prices that are 40-percent less than they would normally fetch at established galleries.
Even Filipinos abroad and those who can’t go to CCP may bid via the auction’s website (www.loveoutloudauction.com). Or call CCP at 8321125 loc. 2109, or Pinky Campiglio at 4736751 or 0917-609-2280.
The event will culminate in a live bidding on the evening of Feb. 9, also at the CCP main gallery, where artworks of some of the country’s National Artists and recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit and CCP’s 13 Artists Awards, will be auctioned off a la Sotheby’s by Leo Rialp and Apa Ongpin.
Unlike in the silent bidding, the live auction will commence with the highest written bids as the starting prices.
“In exchange for some money, you can bring home a work of art, which is bound to appreciate in time,” said Recto. “Plus, you will have helped these hearing-impaired children by literally giving them a voice through education.”
