Since its inception, the disability rights movement has used the mantra of “nothing about us, without us” to call for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all matters that impact them. School-to-School International (STS) uses this mantra as our guiding principle in our inclusive education work by ensuring we partner with organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) wherever we support inclusive education projects, including Nepal, Rwanda, and the Philippines.
We would like to highlight a representative of one of those organizations today—Mr. Justine Barcenas—who is a former president of the Albay Association of the Deaf (2015–2017) and remains in contact with the group. In his current role as a field coordinator for Resources for the Blind Inc. (RBI), Justine collaborates with the Philippine Federation of the Deaf. RBI is implementing the USAID-funded Gabay: Strengthening Inclusive Education for Blind/Deaf Children project in the Philippines. Launched in 2019, Gabay is working in three provinces in the Philippines to strengthen educational access for learners with visual and hearing impairments and provide them, their parents, and their teachers with support in Filipino Sign Language (FSL). As part of its work with Gabay, STS has designed, piloted, and overseen administration of FSL early grade reading assessments (FSL-EGRA) for learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. Justine served as one of the enumerators for the FSL-EGRA.
We spoke with Justine on Tuesday about his work with Gabay. The interview has been edited for clarity and content.
STS: What are Gabay’s goals and objectives?
Justine: As for the project, what we really do is provide assistance or trainings for the parents in regard to Filipino Sign Language (FSL), and that is to help out the children in the community, and also those are in school just to for them to get acquainted and have a better knowledge of the language. Also we do some FSL EGRA. We do that almost every year, and soon by next year we will be conducting one as well.
STS: How have you been involved with conducting the FSL EGRA with STS?
Justine: What we do is assess the learning of the children, so we have some assessments in regard to receptive and expressive skills, and that is in relation to their language use. For the [Gabay] project sites in [the provinces of] Batangas, Sorsogon, and Southern Leyte, we make sure that we personally visit, if we can, those schools that are involved in the FSL EGRA and assess where there is a lack in regards to [learners’] language skills or if maybe some of the children are using gestures instead. We are able to assess how we can better help these students in their learning.
STS: As a Deaf person, what has it been like to be involved with the FSL EGRA?
Justine: Having been involved in the activities of Gabay and visiting schools, it has been a unique experience, if I may say so. When we visited schools, I was exposed to the challenges that are in these classrooms, like the lack of language skills. Some of [the learners] really are struggling how to express themselves using the language. And so what we did was encourage the teachers to better acquaint themselves with FSL, and so what we’ve done [with the project activities] is really helping these children to grow and better acquire learning with better skills in sign language.
STS: What are the biggest challenges you face with your work with Gabay?
Justine: As to the challenges in Gabay, [they] involve the skills of the teachers. When we visited the schools, what we noticed was the lack of [FSL] skills, even for the teachers in these deaf schools, and so one of our priorities was to provide trainings to help these educators.
STS: Have you noticed positive changes with the teachers’ skills?
Justine: Yes. For the teachers, once we conducted the trainings, there were improvements, like they are better acquainted with the vocabularies. Like in one site, the first time I met the teacher, the teacher was a little lacking in skill. But later on, there was improvement in the skill.
STS: How have families been affected by their involvement in the project?
Justine: So for these Deaf learners, again, an important factor in their growth are their parents themselves, that they are able to communicate in sign language with their children. And so once they receive the trainings, the parents were able to communicate better with their children.
STS: And what about the parents’ beliefs and opinions about their children’s capabilities to learn?
Justine: So prior to the trainings, the parents were not believing in the capabilities of their children, that they cannot achieve anything growing up. But once they were involved with the trainings and participated in some of our activities like lectures—and we also invited for those trainings some empowered Deaf leaders as well, and we also have Deaf mentors in the different sites. So, the parents were able to open their eyes to see that the Deaf really can achieve anything. And they were inspired as well, with the achievements that these Deaf presenters or leaders were able to accomplish, and that also affected their self-esteem with regards to their children, and now they are better aware of what the capabilities of their children are and the possibilities of what they can achieve moving forward as they grow up.
STS: Since you are the only Deaf person who is a member of the partner implementing the Gabay project, I was curious if there has been an instance that comes to mind about how being a Deaf person on staff has influenced how the project has been implemented.
Justine: Yes, there were instances. For example, for the staff meetings, sometimes, specifically for FSL and American Sign Language (ASL), at first they are they were thinking that FSL and ASL were just similar, but after explaining to them, their perspective changed, and also in the postcards I have expressed my opinions with regards to the design and also the layout. And when it comes to the [FSL] dictionary, I also make sure that I [contribute] my voice to what I think about in regard to those materials.
STS: So do you feel like your voice has been heard? That your opinion and input is valued as a Deaf person?
Justine: Yes, of course.
STS: Do Gabay and the Philippine Federation of the Deaf collaborate on any advocacy with the government around inclusive education, and if so, what kind of advocacy do you focus on?
Justine: Yes, like the government is now mandated to provide interpreters for the community and, but again the challenge would be in education setting, so we are still working on that. And then we also have a department here—the Department of Social Welfare and Development—who helps out those who are financially incapable, and so we are still working on that aspect as well for the community. What I want to say is the involvement of the government is really critical.
STS is grateful for the time Mr. Justine Barcenas spent with us for this interview and the valuable insights he brings. Explore more of STS’s work with OPDs to advance inclusive education. This blog is the first in a multi-part series.
