Our Affiliated Project:

The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf in Beirut, Lebanon

 

 

facts about the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf:

  • Ages served: Children of all ages from both Arab and Armenian backgrounds receive assistance.
  • Facility description: After shellfire partially destroyed the original building in 1984, the institute moved to an old, well-maintained home that has been renovated to accommodate classrooms. The new facility also includes an audio room, a clinic and a main community hall.
  • Education: Committed to “total communication,” the institute encourages its students to learn to speak as well as to sign. Older children also receive instruction in such skills as computer literacy, accounting, childcare, handicrafts and the production of ear molds for hearing aids.
  • Academic schedule: In Lebanon, the school year typically begins in early October and ends in late June, with a short break in December.
  • Extracurricular activities: Children perform a variety of assigned chores, including helping to clean the school building, tending the vegetable and flower gardens and helping care for the chickens, turkeys and pigeons housed on the grounds.
  • Audio testing: An onsite audio testing facility helps the staff monitor the children’s hearing. Children Incorporated assists with the purchase of the testing equipment, among other needs.
  • Nutrition: Three nutritious meals are served each day.

Renowned for its towering cedar trees, Lebanon boasts fertile valleys, snow-capped, ore-rich mountains and — in a region where water is scarce — sixteen rivers that flow into the glistening Mediterranean Sea along Lebanon’s western coast. This small, Middle Eastern country has an incredibly rich culture, evincing the influence of Greek, Roman, Arab, Ottoman Turk, and French civilization. However, Lebanon’s wealth of diversity has also contributed to its turbulent history.

Lebanon continues to suffer repercussions of a history riddled with both civil and international wars. Poverty, unemployment and the ever-present threat of war are tragic realities here. These threats are most pronounced in Beirut, the nation’s capital. Settled over 5,000 years ago, this historic city is Lebanon’s largest and primary seaport, but it is also afflicted with dire poverty and its socioeconomic effects. The anguish of living in poverty becomes even starker when compounded by the complications of a disability. For this reason, the Father Andeweg Institute serves as a beacon of hope.

Founded in 1957, this unique institution provides deaf children with a basic education as well as specialized training to enable them to become self-sufficient. It plays a crucial role in giving these hearing-impaired — and often destitute — children the opportunity to rise above the challenging circumstances that they face.