Date of Award
Fall 8-18-2013
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Cristina Berdichevsky
Second Advisor
Emilia Chukwuma
Third Advisor
Shirley Shultz Myers
Abstract
Te’aira Tucker’s capstone is a reflection based upon her experience working on a service learning project in Cameroon, West Africa. As part of her service-learning project, she conducted an internship with a deaf organization, the Cameroon Deaf Empowerment Organisation (CDEO), partnering with this organization through Dr. Berdichevsky’s International Deaf Partnerships (IDP) program. Te’aira went to Cameroon during the summer of 2012 initially to work on an HIV/AIDS education campaign focusing on deaf Cameroonian women. However, upon arriving, she learned that this initiative was not needed, and therefore, she turned instead to a different and pressing need associated with the CDEO and the Ephphatha Institute for the Deaf. From her experiences working with the CDEO, Ms. Tucker decided to work with them on their goal to establish a poultry farm for their deaf school, Ephphatha Institute for the Deaf. The Poultry Farm had several goals, including providing a source of food and income to the school while also serving as a means of effective vocational training for the students. The project’s vocational training was designed for educating the deaf students to become self-sufficient with marketable skills developed as a result of their experience running the farm. From this experience, Te’aira developed a proposal to Clinton Global Initiative – University (CGIU) for the purpose of educating the deaf community in the United States about the needs of Cameroon Deaf students while also seeking to fundraise and provide support for the Poultry Farm project. Last, Ms. Tucker ultimately hopes her experiences help prepare others who have a desire to conduct service-learning projects in developing countries. She also hopes that she inspires others to make a difference in the world through projects like hers.
Recommended Citation
Tucker, Te'aira, "Cameroon Deaf Empowerment Organisation: Reflections on an International Service-learning Capstone" (2013). Undergraduate University Honors Capstones. 29.
https://ida.gallaudet.edu/honors_capstones/29
