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Esther in Rwanda was THRILLED to share her happy news this morning with me. Congratulations, Esther! - Destiny

Remember Jerry from Uganda? He was our 3rd Deaf Dreamer who graduated just days before the pandemic hit. He decided to use his degree to start an organization, Deaf In Action. Deaf In Action led out in service during Covid, collecting donations of food and distributing it to the most desperate members of the community. (2 months worth of food to 23 families) They also passed out the 156 face masks that our 6th Deaf Dreamer, Phina, had made for her community. I received two updates from their organization and I am SO excited to share them with you! Menstrual Supplies Jerry's organization has organized their community to make and distribute free reusable sanitary pads! His organization says that: At the household level, they generally have little control over whether they have access to a private latrine or money to spend on sanitary materials. Even when gender inequalities are addressed, deeply embedded power relations and cultural taboos persist. Most people, and men in particular, find menstrual hygiene a difficult subject to talk about. As a result of these issues, water, sanitation and hygiene programmes often fail to address the needs of women and girls We are currently making and distributing Re-usable Sanitary Pads free, to young girls aged 13-24. Isn't this such an amazing and worthwhile project?! Scholarships In addition, I just learned that Jerry's organization is providing two Deaf Ugandan students with half tuition scholarships! My heart is brimming with joy. Jerry studied at university on a Deaf Dream scholarship and now is passing it forward by sponsoring more Deaf students! What a miracle!! These two women are both are in extreme need with untold barriers limiting them so Jerry's organization is especially equipped to support their dreams. (I have included Jerry's / Deaf In Action's statements about each student below:) Abedokena Hope, is our newest half tuition scholarship recipient.She's just completed her term one, of S.1 (Senior One). Abalo Juliet, a resident and a Disabled from Nwoya District. Is a primary six learner. She dropped out of School after she was dismissed by the school admin. Reason for dismissal: She tried to force her teacher to mark her assignment, when she(her) Teacher [unfairly] refused to mark it. This was not the first time the same Teacher refused to mark her assignment. Apiyo tried to plead with her school in vain. This prompted her to drop out of school, until a resident learnt about Deaf In Action and informed it's members about this touching story. With the help of friends, Deaf In Action intends to pay her tuition to complete a Six month Basic course in Tailoring. Jerry's Organization If you would like to support Jerry's organization directly, you can donate here: https://www.givingway.com/organization/deaf-in-action Or you can donate to The Deaf Dream and then email me at destiny@thedeafdream.org to have me forward the funding to our trusted representative, Oryem, who will get the funding to those who need it most. Dear friends, thank you so much for your support! Can you believe it's been 10 years since The Deaf Dream began? A miracle, truly! - Destiny

Hello dreamers, donors, and friends - It is truly incredible for me to realize that it has been 10 years since the idea of The Deaf Dream came to me. I remember sitting in my airplane seat on a flight from Tibet, the Himalayan mountain range passing below me, the harsh oppression of the Tibetan people fresh in my mind, and writing furiously the ideas that were streaming into my brain. Before Semester at Sea, I never would have imagined that God would want me to start a non-profit business. It was not in my plans whatsoever. After all, I was a college student graduating in history with no background in business. I guess that is what makes the last ten years such a miracle. Despite navigating serious health challenges and the ensuing personal financial strain, I have seen divine intervention in The Deaf Dream. Donors that 'just happened' to give at the exact moment a student was in need, a simple organizational structure built on essentialism so that the work moved forward despite my personal challenges, and a network of Deaf Dreamers who supported each other during the extremes of COVID. Each of these miracles makes me more and more convinced that The Deaf Dream's growth is not done yet. With COVID adding a strain to our scholarship fund, I ask that you consider donating $10 for the 10 years The Deaf Dream has grown. You know that I do not ask for money; I prefer to show the miracles happening with our students and trust that the Lord will provide. But today, I do ask for your donations so the next 10 years and 15 students will be made possible. Donate $10 for 10 years Thank you to each of you! I am so grateful for your help over the last decade! - Destiny Donate here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=6M6JCK3GWXMAC

A couple of days ago, I received an email from Monica saying that her first semester tuition was processed at the school. (She will be starting university in the summer.) I was surprised and overjoyed by her news! Hi Destiny, Please find the attached receipt. I was together with Phina and Scovia today. I am thrilled I had the opportunity to take some photos with them. I will email Scovia now so that she can send them to you. Thank you for considering my scholarship application. Kind regards Monica I then received an email from Scovia (our Deaf Dreamer from South Sudan) with photos! Dear Destiny, I had a very interesting morning today when I received two visitors. Yes! two visitors. Phina and Monica! Monica had come to pick her Receipts from the School while Phina accompanied her to the school, since she is still new. We had a wonderful time and were able to take some photos. Please share them with my sponsors and tell them that I appreciate their support. Scovia It brings my heart joy to see the Deaf Dreamers supporting each other so completely. What a beautiful and unanticipated blessing. Thank you, each of you, for your part in the miracles of these three strong women! - Destiny

For all of you who have followed the progression of The Deaf Dream, Oryem's name is quite familiar. He is the one who helped 5 Deaf Dreamers get their education. The one who has traveled all night long to live live stream a Deaf Dreamer's graduation. The one who requested special permission to travel during COVID to deliver food to a starving student. The one who picked up last minute scholarship funds and delivered them to schools by the deadline. He truly is one of the most selfless people I know in the Ugandan disability community. We awarded him a scholarship in 2020 but by the time his school's intakes arrived, Covid-19 had hit Uganda. The country has been under a 'freeze' where no new students have been able to start school (only our current scholarship students were able to continue their programs). After helping Deaf Dreamers for years and then 3+ years of waiting because of Covid, it is my absolute joy to say that Oryem was finally able to start classes this morning!!! He sent a video in 2020 as a thank you. I have included the transcript below. Hello sponsors, I am Oryem from Uganda. I would like to thank you for offering me a scholarship to study information systems. I also pray to God to protect you from the deadly coronavirus. Thank you so much. He will be attending university for two years in information systems. Congratulations, Oryem!!!

After sending Monica her scholarship email this last week, she and her mother visited the school where Monica will be attending. The school sent me the following videos: Hi Destiny... Please receive my mum's thank you message. She cried the whole day after learning that my application for scholarship was accepted. Even at the time her video was being shot! she was just controlling herself. She never believed such a miracle could happen, after struggling with paying my fees for such a long time. Monica is our 15th Deaf Dreamer scholarship recipient. The university sent me this video with the following explanation: I received a Student (Akello Monica) and her Mother Scovia today morning. Ms Scovia brought her daughter for Admission in Hotel Management & Institutional Catering course and we asked them to come back on Thursday 27 2022 to pick up the Admission letter. But before they could leave, Ms. Scovia asked for a favor to have her video taken, so that she can convey her heart to the sponsors from the Deaf Dream for accepting to sponsor her child. Monica also sent a video thanking us for her college scholarship: Thank you to each of you who have donated! Please consider an annual donation of $10 (one dollar for each year The Deaf Dream has been sponsoring students). Thank you! - Destiny

I am thrilled to announce our next Deaf college scholarship recipient! Monica has received a Deaf Dream scholarship to study business, specifically hospitality, to one day provide employment for other members of her Deaf community in Uganda. Monica applied in 2021 but due to funding limitations because of COVID expenses, we were not able to give her a scholarship at that time. (Such a hard decision to make!) But on January 1st, I received an email from Monica following up about the 2022 scholarship. She is clearly eager and ready to go! :) She initially heard about The Deaf Dream from Phina and Kelai (two of our Deaf Dreamers). She wrote in her application about them: We always pray together in the same church. They approached me when our church called for anyone who has the ability to sponsor me to school. I then followed them to their school and took a video with the help of their instructor. In my congratulatory email to her this morning, I wrote: You have Phina, Kelai, and Oryem as examples. Being a Deaf Dreamer is not just about you getting a degree for yourself, but for others in your community. I am blessed each day for the scholarships I was given to gain an education. My hope and prayer is that you will treasure this scholarship and use it to bless the lives of those around you! I love Monica's enthusiasm and tenacity and cannot wait to see how she will be blessed by and bless others with the funding each of you have donated this year. Thank you to each of you! - Destiny P.S. Also, I think you will enjoy her initial application video and form :)

I posted on social media about Semester at Sea today (it is 10 years to the day that we began our voyage in 2012). It was on Semester at Sea (SAS) that the Lord prompted me to start The Deaf Dream organization (despite being a history major with no experience in business). I am so grateful for each experience that led to this miracle! #10yearsago my life changed as a result of @SemesteratSea. Thanks to two scholarships after years of applying (one from @BYU and the other from @UVA) I was able to take part in this miraculous study abroad program. Semester at Sea gave me the tools to start @TheDeafDream organization (which, incidentally will be sponsoring our 17th Deaf Dreamer college student this month!) #10yearsago Kara and I set off on the adventure of a lifetime on #semesteratsea!! As we first departed from the #Bahamas, we were totally GIDDY! :D So grateful for the scholarships I received from #byu and ISE to make this happen!! Semester at Sea is the reason why I founded www.thedeafdream.org and it continues to influence my life daily. Such a miracle voyage!! #10yearsago...I arrived at #Dominica on the #mvexplorer for my first port on #semesteratsea ! Kayaked a mountain river down to the ocean, visited remote villages, and went whale watching. Such a beautiful country with warm people! #10yearsago...our ship left the Atlantic to make its way up the muddy #AmazonRiver and to the favelas of #Manaus, #Brazil. #10yearsago...from Manaus, my friends and I went on a river boat for a few days even further up the #AmazonRiver (complete with hammocks) to swim with pink river dolphins, visit villages, catch alligators, visit a SOS village, and wait out a crazy rainstorm. I remember riding around on a little shanty with the glass-like water, the most clear, starry sky ever, and the glow of alligator eyes and fireflies. Simply magical! It was one of those trips that I'm so glad I did but also made me so grateful for A/C and mosquito nets!! #10yearsago...we arrived in Ghana 🇬🇭. I had the incredible opportunity to visit a Deaf school, attend the #LDStemple in Accra, spend time with children at an #sosvillage for rescued child slaves, meet a man who was the 4th member of the Church in Ghana, and even see Elder Holland! And now, 10 years later, #TheDeafDream has sponsored the first female Deaf college student, Victoria, who is now a Deaf teacher at a Deaf school and (currently sponsoring another first female Deaf college student in Ghana, Jennifer)! I am in awe of the miracles that have happened... #10yearsago...our ship arrived in #SouthAfrica 🇿🇦 where I had some of the most incredible experiences of my life: working on #HabitatforHumanity, going on an elephant-back safari, and hiking Lion's Head above Cape Town. But the highlight was meeting Deaf dreamers at a #Deaf school and having one of the most influential conversations of my life (bottom right hand photo). The students were asking how they could start their own #DeafPresidentNow movement in South Africa. Little did we know years later, the fake interpreter at #NelsonMandela's funeral would spark their own massive #Deafrights movement! A once-in-a-lifetime conversation in Cape Town significantly impacted my decision to start #TheDeafDream a few months later. #10yearsago...We were delayed getting to #Mauritius due to stormy weather and large waves off of the coast of Africa. However, my friend group and I maxed our short time on shore and made wonderful memories on the pristine beaches! #10yearsago...I went to the land of extremes: INDIA. I met a Deaf artist, soaked in the beauty of the #TajMahal, and struggled when seeing extreme wealth and poverty daily. Semester at Sea gave me time to ponder why we're here on this planet, what good we all can/should do, and why it's critical that we trust there is a Father in Heaven who knows when every sparrow falls. One of the most difficult places I've ever been to but I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world (and it was definitely good prep for the harsh experiences of Tibet that would follow). #10yearsago...My health was so poor after India that I decided to stay on the ship in #Singapore and miss visiting a Deaf school there (one of the hardest decisions of my life!). However, after lots of sleep I thought I was up to a stroll in the port. I stepped into a restaurant on the dock and I 'just happened' to run into two Deaf men in the cafe. It was truly miraculous; to only have about 30 minutes worth of energy to get off the ship and 'happen' to meet Deaf Singaporeans. Isn't that amazing!? #10yearsago...my friends and I went to the wonderful LDS branch in #HoChiMinhCity, #Vietnam. We met the most amazing members (dear friends of mine to this day) I was inspired by my time with #Egbok, a nonprofit started by a SAS alumna (which inspired me to found my own nonprofit organization). One of the highlights of my time in Vietnam was meeting Khiem, a #Deaf man, who would later become @TheDeafDream's first scholarship recipient! Kara and I also got to visit the Cu Chi tunnels where Viet Cong soldiers lived during the Vietnam War. I fell in love with Vietnam and haven't been able to stay away since! :) #10yearsago...I arrived at my number one travel dream: Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was a total dream come true! While everyone else was outside waiting for the sunrise, I was inside the ruins - almost completely by myself - and 'having a moment' :') In high school I searched online to find a study abroad program that included Cambodia and that is how I 'accidently' stumbled onto Semester at Sea. That led to years of dreaming, hoping, and applying for scholarships. I am forever grateful for this miracle voyage and the profound and permanent impact it has had on my life! #10yearsago...I had the opportunity to go to the #HongKong #temple grounds. The majority of the grounds/gardens are found under the temple at the base! I am grateful that even with my time in HK so very limited due to my upcoming trip to Beijing and Tibet, I was still able to travel to such an important location in my #religion. #10yearsago...I had the privilege to go to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Great Wall in #China. We were warned to not talk about 3 things while in China: Tibet, Taiwan, and Tiananmen Square. T-square was especially significant to me as it was the location of the 1989 peaceful protest for democracy that resulted in the massacre of hundreds, possibly thousands, of students. My mind went to one of the most incredible books I have ever read: Wild Swans 📚 I also could not get over how HUGE the forbidden city is and imagined how easy it was for the ancient aristocrats to have such power over the emperors who rarely (if ever) were permitted to leave the walls. Incredible! Oh and I was freezing so I found the warmest hat I could find before we flew out to Tibet. 😄 #10yearsago...I went to Tibet and had the most impactful - albeit nerve wracking - travel experience of my life. Because of how politically sensitive things are in that country, I will only share a few of my experiences. (Please contact me personally for more info about what it is really like in Tibet under Chinese occupation.) My group of fellow students and I arrived in April. We expected a busy airport, busy roads, busy downtown - after all Lhasa is a city of ~400,000 people, right? Yet it was like a ghost town when we arrived. Soldiers followed us everywhere. We were not allowed to go anywhere without them "for our protection" (yeah, right). We felt the oppression before we saw it - the tension in the air was palatable and we quickly realized that freedom of speech or privacy was non-existent. We saw the beauty of the sacred lake, the Potala Palace (managed by soldiers) and the devotion of the peaceful Tibetan-Buddism followers. We also ate yak for what seemed like every meal of our stay, met wonderful people, acquired crazy high altitude migraines and got pictures on a yak. :) I pray for Tibet regularly, praying for the day when they'll truly be free, when monasteries will no longer be destroyed and monks imprisoned, when believers are not forced to denounce the Dalai Lama, and when brave Tibetans no longer feel they must self-immolate to get the worlds attention to the atrocities committed there by the Chinese government. (Hundreds of thousands of deaths since 1959.) I want to share more but hope you'll subscribe to Students for a Free Tibet, the organization I joined immediately upon my return. Cannot wait for the day when I can return and the people are free! Thank you Semester at Sea for this once-in-a-lifetime experience! #freeTibet P.S. I hear things are better now than they were 10 years ago, but while it's more seemingly 'peaceful', it is not more free. #10yearsago...I went to #Japan 🇯🇵 and was able to stay with my old college roommate and her family. (Go EAC!) I absolutely loved visiting the temples and shrines, attending a Bunraku puppet performance, going out on the town with friends, spending time at the sobering #Hiroshima memorial, and soaking in the beautiful cherry blossoms. (The #cherryblossoms only bloom for about 1 week and we just happened to be there during that week. Absolutely breathtaking experience!) Photos from our ship life onboard: 1. Enjoying a sunset onboard. 2. The TV in our room that showed us where we were at any given time during the voyage. 3. Sitting on 5th deck at meal time. 4. One of the crew onboard. 5. Thunderstorm over the Amazon. 6. Our room 7. Embarkation day 8. My SAS roommate, Kara, and I :) The amazing people I associated with onboard became my SAS family. To this day, I say thank you prayers that we came together onboard and supported each other in the highs and lows of travel. These passionate people were determined to leave SAS as better people and do their part to improve the world...and 10 years later, I see how each have done this in their own circle of influence! Thank you to each of you for being my SAS siblings. <3 After over a week at sea post #Japan, we then went to Hilo, Hawaii, and then sailed to San Diego. Completing our Around-the-World voyage, one of the most incredible experiences of my life, was a bitter-sweet moment but it was so wonderful to see my family again! Thanks to this experience (and God's ever-guiding hand), I was able to start The Deaf Dream and later work as an ASL travel liaison for two years. I hope to work for SAS one day and help the next generation of students find ways to make a difference! My heart is so full of gratitude today! - Destiny

We just published our thank you video for all of you who supported our Deaf Dreamers in 2021. With extra costs required for COVID, your donations have been especially needed and thus especially appreciated this year. Bless each of you! - Destiny and all the Deaf Dreamers

Dear Destiny, Warmest greetings to you and your team at The Deaf Dream. I can't express how much I should thank you for all you have done for me. It's though your support that I have gone through this long journey. I can't forget to thank Ms. Akello and Mr. Oryem for their tireless efforts ensuring that all the funding you sent, reached the school. I'm happy to inform you that I passed my National Exams with a CREDIT. I just missed out with only two points to pass with a Distinction. I'm also happy to inform you that I have been shortlisted for an interview for a half Busary to pursue a 9 months specialized course in Fashion Designs & Decorations and we are set for the interview on Monday next week. Please find the attached letter from our principal. Thanks Khaitsa Phina

I received a quick update from Scovia when she sent her tuition request this week. As a reminder, Scovia is our second Deaf Dreamer from South Sudan and is currently studying in Uganda. She wrote: I have also been helping in Conducting COVID-19 awareness to the the Deaf and their Parents through Emyooga Program in Uganda. I am consistently amazed at the efforts each of these Deaf Dreamers make to better their communities. Please continue to pray for them, specifically that they will have their turns to get vaccinations as this directly impacts whether they will be able to continue their education or not. A few days later, Scovia wrote saying: Thank you so much for your support. May God Bless you. By the way, I have got a New Name (not official) from Uganda. Called Apiyo "Meaning; the first born of the twin" [because] I have a friend who resembles me so much. Scovia, we're cheering you on! And thank you all for your support, dear friends! :) - Destiny

I mentioned a couple of months ago that Victoria was selected by Dr. Lissa Ramirez-Stapleton to receive 25 copies of their book about the Black Deaf Community! Victoria sent a thank you video to Lissa when she was selected. If you haven't seen it on our channel yet, take a moment to watch it. Victoria is simply beaming with enthusiasm! And today, I received these photos from Victoria. Through an involved (and at times, arduous) journey, they have finally ARRIVED in Ghana and are in the hands of Victoria's students! Emmanuel (Victoria's mentor) wrote that, "the students are so excited to have gotten extra work books from one of their own Deaf writer. These expressions can be seen... They promised to put the books to good use. They expressed they sincere appreciation to you all." I am so excited for Victoria. What a beautiful Deaf world exchange. :) And thank you, Dr. Lissa, for shipping these books to Victoria! - Destiny