Two deaf students from Kathmandu in Nepal have been enjoying life in Preston as part of the Deaf Global Xchange.

They are amongst a total of nine Nepalese deaf young people who are visiting the UK for 3 months, as part of the Deaf Global Xchange supported by Deafway, who have been supporting the Nepal Deaf Association for 10 years. In return, 9 deaf British students are also visiting Nepal for 3 months.

The two students, Deidre and Kul, have been offering their services at Preston City Council and officers have been drawing upon their knowledge to try and further improve services such as the council’s website and contact centre for the deaf community in Preston. Other departments to benefit are Sports Development, Community Engagement and Finance.

Deidre and Kul were presented with a portfolio of the work they had undertaken during their time spent at the council, which they can use to demonstrate the experience they have gained.

Preston City Council will be continuing their positive relationship with Deafway to implement improvements arising from the programme.

Background Information

• The Global Xchange programme is a six-month exchange programme which gives young people from different countries a unique opportunity to work together, to develop and share valuable skills and to make a practical contribution where it is needed in local communities.
• The exchange programme started in September 2009 and will run for six months.
• This is the first ever Global exchange programme that we have run specifically for Deaf young people and we will be running it in association with Deafway in the UK and the National Federation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in Nepal.

Date Published: 15/01/10