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South Tahoe resident helps deaf in Jamaica | TahoeDailyTribune.com
Megan Hicks wants to make it very clear that being deaf does not mean being hearing-impaired, or being impaired in any way.
“We are trying to promote the fact that there is nothing ‘impaired' about deaf people. The only thing they can't do is hear,” Hicks wrote in an email. “This idea is slowly being accepted here in Jamaica, not unlike the deaf community's experience in the U.S. some years ago.”
Hicks, a Peace Corps volunteer, has been stationed in Jamaica for over a year, working with the island nation's deaf community. She teaches sign language classes, interprets public meetings and encourages her students at St. Christo pher's School for the Deaf to work on their reading skills.
“I've always thought it an honorable thing,” Hicks said. “Giving two years of your life to help others is something that really interested me.”
Hicks grew up in South Lake Tahoe. She attended Tahoe Valley Elementary, South Tahoe Middle School, and South Tahoe High School.
She went on to earn an associate's degree at Lake Tahoe Community College and finished a bachelor's in American studies with an emphasis on disability studies at U.C. Berkeley.
She began sign language while studying at U.C. Berke ley and continued learning at Berkeley City College. She took an interpreter preparation program at Ohlone College in Fre mont before becoming a freelance interpreter in the Bay Area.
As she was preparing to embark on her Peace Corps work, Hicks moved back to South Lake Tahoe, waiting tables, interpreting sign language at LTCC and spending time with her family.
Mary Gross, who worked with Hicks at Red Hut, said Hicks was clearly passionate about working with the deaf.
“It was just one of her passions,” Gross said, adding that Hicks was well suited for the job in Jamaica. “She was always so outgoing, always upbeat. She definitely set the tone in any room she was in.”
But Hicks does miss the familiar faces of Tahoe and the outdoor lifestyle that's so prevalent in the area.
“It's obviously so much different here, but what is really difficult for me is that Jamaica is not exactly an ‘outdoorsy' kind of culture,” she said.
But work has been ex tremely rewarding so far.
“Every day I am rewarded by seeing my students' beautiful faces light up when they pick out a book,” Hicks said. “Or when they run to give me a hug first thing in the morning.”
And she's made a special companion.
“I adopted a dog. Her name is Wimpy and she's been helpful with the transition for me,” Hicks wrote. “I so look forward to taking Wimpy to the lake and hiking Meyer's Grade (Yep! I'm bringing her back to Amer ica with me!)”
Megan Hicks wants to make it very clear that being deaf does not mean being hearing-impaired, or being impaired in any way.
“We are trying to promote the fact that there is nothing ‘impaired' about deaf people. The only thing they can't do is hear,” Hicks wrote in an email. “This idea is slowly being accepted here in Jamaica, not unlike the deaf community's experience in the U.S. some years ago.”
Hicks, a Peace Corps volunteer, has been stationed in Jamaica for over a year, working with the island nation's deaf community. She teaches sign language classes, interprets public meetings and encourages her students at St. Christo pher's School for the Deaf to work on their reading skills.
“I've always thought it an honorable thing,” Hicks said. “Giving two years of your life to help others is something that really interested me.”
Hicks grew up in South Lake Tahoe. She attended Tahoe Valley Elementary, South Tahoe Middle School, and South Tahoe High School.
She went on to earn an associate's degree at Lake Tahoe Community College and finished a bachelor's in American studies with an emphasis on disability studies at U.C. Berkeley.
She began sign language while studying at U.C. Berke ley and continued learning at Berkeley City College. She took an interpreter preparation program at Ohlone College in Fre mont before becoming a freelance interpreter in the Bay Area.
As she was preparing to embark on her Peace Corps work, Hicks moved back to South Lake Tahoe, waiting tables, interpreting sign language at LTCC and spending time with her family.
Mary Gross, who worked with Hicks at Red Hut, said Hicks was clearly passionate about working with the deaf.
“It was just one of her passions,” Gross said, adding that Hicks was well suited for the job in Jamaica. “She was always so outgoing, always upbeat. She definitely set the tone in any room she was in.”
But Hicks does miss the familiar faces of Tahoe and the outdoor lifestyle that's so prevalent in the area.
“It's obviously so much different here, but what is really difficult for me is that Jamaica is not exactly an ‘outdoorsy' kind of culture,” she said.
But work has been ex tremely rewarding so far.
“Every day I am rewarded by seeing my students' beautiful faces light up when they pick out a book,” Hicks said. “Or when they run to give me a hug first thing in the morning.”
And she's made a special companion.
“I adopted a dog. Her name is Wimpy and she's been helpful with the transition for me,” Hicks wrote. “I so look forward to taking Wimpy to the lake and hiking Meyer's Grade (Yep! I'm bringing her back to Amer ica with me!)”