Back in June, I got to visit mi amiga (and fellow YAV) Emily in Moyobamba, Perú where she had been living and serving with Paz y Esperanza’s program for deaf children and adolescents in San Martin. We were able to make this video together with the help of Jenny, our site coordinator, and her husband Jed. (Thanks, Jenny and Jed!)
To learn more about Emily’s YAV site, watch this video.
Visit Emily’s blog (it’s excellent). emilykwilkes.wordpress.com
Emily was completely new to Lengua de Señas Peruana (Peruvian Sign Language) when we arrived in Peru just ten months prior. She saw the Disney movie “Moana” with two of her deaf students and while she knew they loved the movie, she was disappointed that she couldn’t express the emotion behind the music, which was her favorite part of the movie. She said that just signing “girl wants to explore ocean” for the movie’s main song “How Far I’ll Go” felt like an injustice not only to the song, but also to her students since they don’t always have access to someone who can interpret for them. She was inspired by her students to learn “Cuán Lejos Voy” in Peruvian Sign Language!
My story with the song is less inspirational, but being from Hawai‘i and singing this song in a language I’ve studied for a good chunk of my life while in a country where that language is spoken was special enough for me. I’m also very honored to have been in this video with Emily who I am so proud of for not only learning this song and doing it so well, but for her service within the deaf community of San Martin and her willingness to learn a new language (Peruvian Sign Language) in her second language (Spanish—which she also learned a lot of while there).
During our program retreat in Moyobamba, we got to visit Emily’s worksite where she shared the song with her students for the first time. That was the first time I ever played and sang among an audience of people who can’t hear. Emily beautifully translated the music.
with an attitude of gratitude 