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The New Zealand mountaineer who conquered Mt Everest 30 years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary, has criticised the decision of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, to remove deaf Japanese climbers from Mt Cook.

The vice-chairman of the organising committee, Mrs Margaret Coutts, said yesterday "for two weeks there will be more deaf people on the street than hearing people. My heart is filled with gold because of the very big turn out – there are more athletes here than at the previous World Games in America (in 1985)."

On a recent Saturday, I was lucky enough to meet members of the Auckland Deaf Society at a working bee they were holding to improve the grounds of the city's Deaf Welfare Centre. The centre, incidentially, is a very fine building – it has the biggest sports hall in Auckland with a floor area 110 by 60 feet.

New Zealand won its first gold medal at the World Games for the Deaf in California yesterday when cyclist John Ooteman (Fielding) won the 35km time trial in 51m 10s. Also includes results from the New Zealand team.

The Auckland Deaf Society has reversed a previous decision and decided to support the team being sent to the Olympic Games for deaf people in Helsinki in August by the Wellington Deaf Sports Club.

Madedra, the Manawatu Deaf Drama Group, is putting on a show 'People' which plays at the National Library next Sunday. They have also been invited to perform in the International Festival of Deaf Theatre in Spain but still needed to raise enough money.

Deaf people can communicate country to country with more ease than those who can speak. It is not because they have an international sign language – each country has its own – but because it is a visual language.