Cass Deaf Alumni recognized by The President and First Lady of El Salvador
The President of El Salvador, Francisco Flores and the First Lady, Lourdes Flores Perez recognized the "Deaf Literacy in Santa Ana Organization /Alfabetizacion para Sordos de Santa Ana" (CASA) for their groundbreaking work on a national literacy initiative. Misael Melgar and Aldo Mejia, two CASS alumni who studied at Mount Aloysius College, in Pennsylvania have been working with the director of CASA, Oscar Orantes, on an eight-month adult literacy pilot project supported by the Salvadoran Ministry of Education. They are seen in the above photograph on the far left posing with the President and First Lady of El Salvador.
The CASS scholarship program is supported by the U.S. Federal Government, coordinated through Georgetown University by Prof. Paul Silva. Silva described the accomplishments of the program:
"We work with rural communities in Central America and the Caribbean to promote development through scholarships for technical training, leadership and community service. As part of the training... we have given over 100 two year scholarships to deaf individuals and 30-40 scholarships to train sign language interpreters... All but one has returned to work in their respective countries.
"The scholarships for deaf youths have focused on computer information systems, business applications and desk top publishing... Upon return we help all alumni with employment search support...
"In most of our countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaica, Panama, Guatemala), our deaf CASS alumni have taken on leadership roles with the national deaf associations... Over 90% are employed. Some have continued their studies in country. One has finished law school in Guatemala and works for GT Court... "
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