Equal Participation – Deaf people need to have equal access of participation in the personal, public and political area as everybody else. More importantly, it is necessary to ensure that deaf people have the opportunity to take up leadership roles, so that deaf people themselves can appropriately advocate for their rights and be involved in all decision-making processes concerning their lives. This is a reflection of the slogan “Nothing About Us, Without Us.” 
Deaf Aotearoa – Equal Participation
Lifelong Learning – Access to education, vocation training and ongoing professional training and development, is key to gaining and retaining a job and earning a wage that allows independent living.
Here are the last slogans over the International Deaf Week and my apologise that I have not completed these last two topics. There are so much works to be done in the Deaf communities along with the hearing communities around the world.
Today we have schools for the Deaf, Federation for the Deaf, Deaf Sports, Deaf theatres and the lists so on. But not every thing we expect to achieve our dream goal such as offical sign languages, deaf people who have equal right to work in the workplace as everyone, health sectors etc around the world. Because everyones are still learning or not fully aware that there are many D/deaf people out there and it is often we are isolated or separate from the hearing community due to communicate or the lack of keeping in touch. We, the Deaf people are not the only one, what about people who living in the rural country, out of reach county like in the desert in Africa, war-torn country with no network communication.
First of all, there are about 70 millions Deaf people who use sign language as their first language or mother tongue and the number of sign languages around the world are over 300. So far there are 36 legal recognition of sign languages around the world including here in New Zealand. Yes, in New Zealand, our NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) passed the bill through the Government 10 years ago. It was announced on April 6th 2006 and it was a couple day before my birthday. This was how I remember easily even it was on our late cousin’s birthday too.
I am a deaf person who come from a hearing family – solo mother with four children, a deaf advocate for many disabled people, a leadership mentor under EGL, tutor for Deaf adults in literacy/numeracy, teacher aide, a community support worker and the list so on. I am often the last person to be contact or miss out the important thing by any hearing people. I have been there by missing out or left out for many years. Many other Deaf people have the same path as me if they were married to a hearing person, living in a relationship, working in the same building or in the extendend family.
Not everyones are lucky if they have got special equipment in their homes, workplaces, equal pay for their jobs, accessible or unaccessible to public/private transports even buildings and the list so on. What about the poor countries like in Africa or in India? Did they have got equipment to help them to become independent or not. Basically it is the Government and financial for everyone in the country. Today in New Zealand we, Deaf Action lobbies for flashing fire/smoke alarm in all public/private building because the Government does not recognise our important need for us to see as visual sight instead of hearing the sound.
Here is another announcement from the World Federation of the Deaf Language Rights of Deaf Children
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-governmental organisation which promotes the human rights of deaf people worldwide. An important part of our work is the promotion of the rights of deaf people, including deaf-blind people and deaf people with disabilities, to an education in their native indigenous sign language(s). The need for natural language acquisition in sign language is crucial for all deaf people.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) commits governments to recognising the importance of sign languages and promoting their use. The UN CRPD also entitles deaf people, on an equal basis with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture. Being allowed to develop their cultural and linguistic identities – including in educational settings – is a key right of deaf children.
What about Deaf adult and they need to improve their literacy/numeracy for their works and around home with their children!! There are tutors/teachers of the Deaf adults like me around the world and we are seeking funding for us to continue teaching Deaf adults for example like learning to drive a car, assignments in electrical tools, building code, health issues. I am still learning to improve by writing this blog and doing writing books in Deaf History about our Hamilton Deaf Units in Waikato.
Life in Eureka 
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