Vietnam - She builds a bridge between two worlds

She never thought she would ever pick a career that crosses paths with the deaf and hard-of-hearing but the sign language training center she set up in Hanoi has been operating for 6 months now.

A graduate from an economics university, Le Thi Thanh Hoa chose to follow a career path that many would say is noble, setting up a sign language center to allow people with hearing impairment and people with normal hearing to understand each other.

The idea dated back to a time when Hoa volunteered to be the emcee for an event organized by a sign language club in the capital, even though she had not known anything about the special language beforehand.

The 33-year-old woman took only three days, a surprisingly short time, to learn all the basic hand gestures and facial expressions to allow her to do the job effectively.

Hoa herself was shocked at how fast she could remember those gestures and expressions. After the event, she realized she was ‘addicted’ to the language.

“Learning the sign language is similar to learning a foreign language,” Hoa said.

She interpreted for many sign language conferences and at the same time nurtured a dream to do something meaningful for these people.

That is how the sign language training center came into being around the middle of this year.

“I simply want to help the deaf and hearing-impaired people because they face too many disadvantages,” Hoa said.

Thousands of deaf people and young Hanoians have enrolled in the courses at the center so far, she said.

The center not only teaches sign language but it also offers interpretation and consulting classes.

“I still have a long way to go,” Hoa said. “The more people know the sign language, the more opportunities deaf people will have.”

Indeed, she is now busy with her new project -- making documentary films for deaf people.

With the support of a group of volunteers, Hoa is filming places of interest in Hanoi, including the Temple of Literature, Sword Lake, and Bat Trang Pottery Village to introduce the country’s culture and history to the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

The films will use voice-overs alongside Hoa, who will be the sign language narrator.

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