Volunteering at Deaf Reach

Written By Jihan Adnan Khan

The Deaf Reach Programme is an initiative of Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF), a non-profit educational organisation active in Pakistan since 1984. The Deaf Reach program is FESF’s pioneering effort to empower Pakistan’s deaf community through education, skills training and career development.

Over the past few weeks, DP-1 students volunteered at the Deaf Reach school in Lahore. This volunteering happened to be an endeavour of the TNS Philanthropic Society which is now presided over by Aly Khan and I. Spending time at Deaf Reach has truly been a wonderful experience for us all. For starters, we

got to understand what deafness really is, and consequently saw how our perspective toward it changed dramatically. Attending a PSL (Pakistan Sign Language) class provided us with an opportunity to begin learning a new language. Moreover, interacting with students, their parents and teachers was not only fun but also instructive as we got a chance to practice and develop on the PSL we’re learning.

Our future plans not only consist of continuing to volunteer at this unique school but to develop lesson plans for the students there and help the teachers while imparting some knowledge of our own.