Ephpheta: September 1983 (Vol. 6, No. 3)

Some of the items featured in ‘Ephpheta: September 1983 (Vol. 6, No. 3)’:

Next year, St Dominic’s School, Feilding, will be 40 years old, dating from the Wellington foundation in 1944. The Manawatu Catholic Deaf Committee is organising a reunion at St Dominic’s over Queen’s Birthday weekend, 2-3 June 1984.
Sister Mercedes talks about her experiences in Samoa, working at the National Society for the Disabled – Loto Taumafai. Her task for five weeks was to assess the needs of the deaf.
St Dominic’s now has a Teleprinter. Have you? If so, please let us know as we would like to make a list of all the names of deaf people who have a Teleprinter.
So far, we have raised $1,160 towards the Gallaudet Scholarship Fund. Since the NZ dollar is only worth 68 cents in the U.S.A, we hope to raise another $300 to cover the exchange rate.

Can you help?

NZSL story – Taonga source: Tony Walton

Tony Walton on Building a More Accessible Deaf Aotearoa

Tony reflects on his involvement with the New Zealand Association of the Deaf (now Deaf Aotearoa). In 1989, during the World Deaf Games, New Zealand had only two or three qualified NZSL interpreters – a serious shortage. NZDSA was strongly sign-based, while the NZAD board leaned more oral. After the Games, Tony joined NZAD as a delegate to learn how it worked, eventually becoming President. His focus was on Deaf youth, leading to the creation of Friends of Young Deaf (FYD), better Māori engagement and involvement with more NZSL interpreters. One key goal was to have 13 interpreters nationwide, giving every major town and city access. Interpreter pay and access were limited back then – very different from today.

NZSL story – Taonga source: Tony Walton

From New Lynn to Avondale: A Necessary Move

Tony served as President of the New Zealand Association of the Deaf from 1999 to 2003. At the time, the focus was on supporting Deaf youth – not relocating. But when asbestos was discovered in the ceiling of the New Lynn building, with removal costs estimated at $600,000, a major decision had to be made. With support from a funder willing to underwrite the risk, the building was sold and a new location was secured. The Avondale office officially opened in November 1999.

Aileen Banks

Brendan Hill

Carol Brady

David Loving-Molloy

David Loving-Molloy

Denis Mullane

Diane Urlich

Don (Donald) Banks

Don (Donald) Banks

Gary Howell

Janette Smith

Lorraine Nilsson

Lorraine Nilsson

Margaret Tippett

Margaret Tippett

Maureen Thompson (Wilson)

Maureen Thompson (Wilson)

Peter Thompson

Sister Mercedes

Sister Mercedes

Stephen Leach

Taonga source:

St Dominic’s Catholic Deaf Centre

Reference number:

SignDNA – Deaf National Archive New Zealand, CDC1983-6-3-MJN

Copyright status:

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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