Participants


	Sofia Siliezar Program Coordinator (Program Coordinator) Ana Sofia became hard of hearing due to a side effect of high fever and grew up in Guatemala City, Guatemala for a few years from 1984 until moving to the United States and settling in Northern Virginia a few years later . Ana Sofia attended public schools from middle school to high school in Fairfax, Virginia, and then went to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) because of its deaf support services and the great reputation of its CO-OP programs. Sofia was introduced to Global Reach Out (GRO) by Charles Sterling in 2007. The staff members of GRO then contacted her to gather more information about her experiences growing up deaf in Guatemala, after talking with GRO, Sofia became motivated to participate in the Guatemala delegation. She feels that it is a great opportunity for her to gain the skills of leadership, helping others, and teaching Deaf Guatemalans. She had the hope for Deaf Guatemalans to become accomplished with education, jobs, and human rights. Ana Sofia graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in August 2009 and aims to work in the area of Accounting and Human Resources.
	Alim Chandani Staff Support Alim Chandani graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a B.S. in New Media and E-Business and from New York University with a M.A. in Deafness Rehabilitation and Higher Education. Alim is now working towards obtaining his doctorate degree in Administration and Supervision in Special Education at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. In 2005, Alim was a human rights delegate for Global Youth Connect with fellow delegates in Cambodia. Inspired by this experience, he conceived the idea of providing cross-cultural programs for American deaf youth within developing countries. Thus, the concept of GRO was born. Presently, Alim has a specific mission and vision and carefully plans each trip in furtherance of GRO's goals. He constantly looks for ways to create and enrich global networks between deaf communities and seeks the long-term success of these connections.
	Nuirka Bendeldft Point of Contact (Point of Contact) Profoundly deaf since birth on October 23, 1973, Nuirka came into this world without hearing as the world around her became a complete and utter silence. She has long since had a personal goal that despite her deafness, she would graduate from Guatemala University. After being at the university for 7 years, Nuirka has finally accomplished her goal! Since accomplishing her personal goal, Nuirka has been working passionately with deaf children in providing therapy and guidance for the parents. She also provides sign language courses whenever she visits the Association for the Deaf. Through all this, Nuirka has had another personal goal, a dream if you will: to create an educational center for deaf children and youth. This dream is now an established organization that now exists as ASEDES (Educational Association for the Deaf) that was founded in 2007. Nuirka knows that together, everyone will fight for their goals and dreams to give the children a better future than our own. She looks forward to working with GRO to further realize everyone’s goals and dreams!
	Rachelle Settambrino Evaluator (Evaluator) Imagine growing up in the north where you can see the luminous stars filling the skies at nights. Rachelle is proud to inform you that she is from Duluth, Minnesota; where the stars shine in the skies at night in the land of ten thousand lakes. Rachelle went to the Minnesota State Academy of the Deaf and graduated in 1997, after which she enrolled at Gallaudet University the following fall. After a few semesters, Rachelle left Gallaudet University to explore what was offered out there in the real world, and moved to California where she worked many different jobs for six years. While Rachelle worked, she traveled all over the country and rode 50 miles in Mexico with a group of deaf members. Rachelle enjoys numerous outdoor activities such as rock climbing, surfing, hiking, cycling, camping, snowboarding, jogging out in the woods, and too many more to name! In between all of the activities, Rachelle continued taking general courses at a few community colleges in southern California. The last city that Rachelle lived before returning to Gallaudet University was San Diego. Rachelle is currently a graduate student at Gallaudet University that is about to enter International Development program. Working with different international students at Gallaudet has inspired Rachelle as she enjoys listening to their unique stories from where they are from. The International students have taught Rachelle many things and they have broadened her perspective about the world. They helped Rachelle gain her appreciation for diversity and how to value others as much as she values herself. The experiences Rachelle had with international students inspired her as she gained her desire to work with different deaf people in other countries. Rachelle realizes it is very important for a young deaf women like herself to be a role model and to bring and share the resources with others. Rachelle was born to be a world traveler!
	Jennifer Campero Observer Jennifer was born into a deaf family in Pittsburgh and raised in Dallas. She received her B.A. degree at Gallaudet University and her M.S. in Deaf Education at Western Maryland College. Residing in Austin with her two boys, Jennifer currently works as a high school Social Studies teacher at the Texas School for the Deaf, teaching mostly World Geography. Traveling to countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, China, and several countries in Europe, one of Jennifer’s dreams is to expand T.S.D.’s International Studies program by broadening opportunities for students to experience other cultures.
	Wilmonda McDevitt Observer Coming from a 3rd generation deaf family, Wilmonda attended the American School for the Deaf, and subsequently received a B.A. and M.S.W. at Gallaudet University. Wilmonda now works at the Texas School for the Deaf as a Supervisor of Student Life. Wilmonda has traveled to 48 states and has a strong admiration of its many national parks. Two of Wilmonda’s greatest adventures were cycling solo across America and backpacking through Italy, Austria, and Germany. With her adventures, Wilmonda sees her travel wonders in pictures as they bring out the beauty in details.
	Angela Vasquez GRO Delegate Angela Marie Vasquez, or Angela as most call her, was born in the Philippines with a profound hearing loss. After growing up in Chicago, Illinois, Angela is enrolling as a third-year at Gallaudet University majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Family Studies. Angela expects to graduate in May of 2011. During senior year of high school, Angela’s internship program was at the Access Living in Chicago where she conducted research on Deaf and Hard of Hearing People’s Health Care Experiences in Illinois. The experience led Angela to receive the NCIL Diana Vietz award, a national award for dedication and commitment in improving the lives of young people with disabilities. Angela is involved with the Gallaudet community, serving as anchorperson on BisonTV, working for the QuestFest Box Office Committee, and working as a Student Success Assistant for the First Year Experience department. Angela’s passport is filled with stamps from Canada, the Philippines, and most recently- India, she enjoys all of the learning experiences that come from traveling and looks forward to helping the young Deaf communities Internationally!
	Daniel DiDonna GRO Delegate Daniel DiDonna was born in Long Island, New York, and moved to a small-knit neighborhood in Parsippany, New Jersey at the age of 6 flooding his childhood with countless memories. As he graduated from Mountain Lakes High School, he went on to Gallaudet University. Well into his third year, Daniel aims to graduate with a double B.A. in Communication Studies and English. This is Daniel’s first experience with GRO, and as Guatemala awaits the U.S. delegates, he loves the feeling of entering a new world, searching into the unknown fearlessly. Connecting with different people across the globe has opened up Daniel’s eyes to a new world, especially after his involvement as an swimmer for the 2009 Deaflympics in Taiwan. Seeing the global Deaf community come together affirmed Daniel’s passion to participate and work on an international level, helping and growing with other souls that he shall encounter in his journey through life.
	Lisa Velez GRO Delegate Lisa Velez was born in Manhattan, New York City with profound hearing loss. Hailing from a deaf family, Lisa was raised in New York City and her nationality is Puerto Rico. Lisa is currently enrolled as a fifth year at the Rochester Institute Technology (RIT) and will graduate with a B.A. in Human Resource Management this May. This is Lisa’s first experience with GRO as Guatemala awaits the U.S. delegates! Lisa loves the feeling of entering a new world, and has travelled to places such as the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, and Mexico and visited twenty countries in Europe two years ago. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys reading, learning about new things, learning new cultures, and helping people to see and know that they can do anything regardless what people say, after all, anything is possible.
	Megumi Kawakami GRO Delegate Megumi Kawakami is from Okinawa, Japan, her family is deaf and communicates though Japanese Sign language (JSL). Megumi volunteered at an association for the Deaf in her area for five years before coming to the United States in 2007 for school. Megumi studied English at Ohlone College and then transferred to Gallaudet University in the fall of 2008 majoring in Deaf Studies. Megumi is most interested in deaf identity from various educational backgrounds, also, she is interested in deaf communities in developing countries. Megumi has traveled to Mexico, Cameroon, Thailand, and Korea. From travel experience, Megumi has noticed that developing countries are still oppressed by hearing people and society. The reason behind joining the GRO Guatemala 2010 program is that Megumi wants to learn something from the other delegates in the United States and Guatemala. Mekumi wants to see with her own eyes what the deaf community in Guatemala looks like, and looks forward to seeing everyone and working together.
	Nicolas Tegni GRO Delegate Nicolas Tegni, or N1, as he is called by most was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of the biggest cities in South America. N1’s parents learned that he was deaf at the age of 6 months and decided to move to New York when he was 2 for a better education. As for the story behind his nickname, while growing up, N1 attended a camp where there were two Nicks; one younger and one older, since he was the older one, everyone has called him N1 ever since. N1 recently graduated from RIT with a Bachelor of Science degree and currently lives in New York City and working part time while searching for full time job. N1 loves to travel around the world and he has traveled to more than 25 countries; Argentina, Chile, Bahamas, Mexico, Israel, and almost all of Europe. The trip to Guatemala will be N1’s first time there and he is looking forward to it!
	Noppawan Thamsiriboon GRO Delegate Noppawan Thamsiriboon was born in Bangkok, Thailand and comes from a Deaf family. She was born deaf and is the only child in the family. After attending the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University in Bangkok, Thailand, Noppawan received a B.A in Special Education. Since spring 2008, Noppawan has been a student at Gallaudet University where she is currently enhancing her English skills in order to complete the Deaf education program. After that, Noppawan would like to share her education and experience in order to enhance the deaf education program in her home country of Thailand. Noppawan wishes to see the deaf education program become stronger than the current system and to see future deaf children have the opportunity to receive an excellent education. Noppawan was once an exchange student under a program in Japan in 1999 for two weeks and she learned about the Japanese deaf culture, values in the Japanese deaf community, and Japanese sign language. Noppawan would like to increase her opportunities and be able to overcome the challenges that deaf people face in developing countries. More so, Noppawan would like to try to experience other cultures by going to developing countries, so that she can get real hands-on experience working with the deaf rather than just traveling as a tourist. Also, Noppawan would like to be exposed to the various deaf cultures, values, and languages in developing countries in order to gain more knowledge. In exchange, Noppawan feels that she will be able to learn from her experiences and share her knowledge as well. Noppawan will be involved with the GRO (global Reach Out) for the first time with this upcoming experience, and she hopes to maximize this valuable experience by learning new leadership strategies, participating in the cultural exchanges, and share her experiences with the GRO team in Guatemala.
	Silvia Lopez GRO Delegate Silvia Lopez, deaf since birth, was born in Spain. She currently works as a Vocational Rehabilitation counselor with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in North Carolina, a position she has held since 2005. In this role, Silvia manages a caseload of deaf and hard of hearing clients providing all aspects of counseling, including advocating, marketing, and empowering. A big believer in independence for people with disabilities though partnership and community leadership, Silvia supports any organizations that have the same vision. Silvia is a competent counselor and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Silvia is currently in the last year of her Master’s degree studies in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of North Texas and San Diego State University. Silvia is no stranger to the helping hand field, with experience working as a nanny, lifeguard, ASL instructor, resident advisor, tutor, camp counselor, swim instructor, sales associate, office clerk and school social work intern. All of which taught her the importance of a strong work ethic, optimal self-sufficiency, and sheer independence. Silvia has always been a doer and serves as a metaphor for ideas put into action. Silvia helped set up the Deaf Professional Happy Hour (DPHH) in Raleigh and Fayetteville. Presently, she’s assisting/training the new host for the Raleigh DPHH and is the current host for the Fayetteville DPHH. Professionally, she serves on the Skills Building workshop committee to assist clients with job retention and increasing successful outcomes with other specialized disability counselors. Silvia is also aiding in the preparation of a presentation for the North Carolina Rehabilitation Association conference in Asheville on 09/09/2010. GRO-Guatemala will be Silvia’s first trip as a volunteer, but not her last. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, learning languages/cultures, and helping the disabled realize their opportunities to learn, grow, and serve others like themselves.
	Diane Mendoza Host Delegate Maria Mendoza Bernardita is 24 years old and lives in Guatemala City, Guatemala. As her first time in GRO, Diana want to integrate her needs with learning things such as teaching deaf children. Diana wants to meet new people, communicate, and understand the different details of another country.
	Gaby Solares Host Delegate Maria Gabriela Luca Solares is 20 years old and lives in San Cristobal. Gaby joined GRO so she could meet other deaf people and learn American Sign Language. Gaby wants to develop the skills necessary to teach other deaf people so that they can grow and thrive. However, Gaby needs to take the first step by learning the process for herself.
	Linda Gutierrez Host Delegate Linda Gutierrez Nohelia III is 22 years old and was born in Nicaragua Managua on 25 August 1987. Linda’s family moved to Guatemala to find a better life, and she currently lives in Zone 2 of Mixco Gonzalez urbanization. Wanting to try new things, Linda’s goal is to learn many activities from GRO, and just to take everything in and learn something new. Linda hopes to learn sign language and deaf news as she has the hunger for knowledge.
	Michelle Dubon Host Delegate My name is Michelle Dubon, I am 17 years old and I was born in Guatemala. I want to participate in GRO because I am interested to meet deaf American people and their cultures. I want to win my goals about deaf in Guatemala and their power. I want to meet about GRO because I like to know about their purposes and new cultures from other countries, Yes I want to come back again next year 2011 in GRO and I hope to learn a lot about new things, sign language of English and new experiences.
	Ricardo Palomo Host Delegate 19 years old and Iiving in the San Angel zone, this is Richardo’s first time participating in any program. It is Richardo’s desire to learn the truth about things, his ultimate goal is to study at a university, but the truth is, it’s not easy. However, Richardo knows that he can achieve this and he loves helping the Deaf, the poor, and donating to either group. Richardo also desires to learn American Sign Language and discover if it’s easy or hard.
	Richardo Velezquez Host Delegate Ricardo Velezquez is 21 years old and lives in San Cristobal, Guatemala. Ricardo wants to learn sign language from different countries, and his goal is to become a deaf chef so that he can support his parents and the poor. Ricardo wants to learn sign language from other countries and understand deeper things.
	Sandra Barrera Host Delegate (Returning delegate) 23 years old from San Pedro, Guatemala, Sandra wanted to join GRO so she could learn more about education and what she can do for the future of education. Sandra also hopes to learn more about different sign languages, especially that from United States of America. Sandra is also a professional dancer, she loves dancing, and looks forward to teaching delegates how to dance!
	Sebastian Paz Host Delegate Sebastian Paz, age 17, was born in Guatemala, and wants to participate in GRO because he wants to meet deaf Americans. Sebastian aspires to learn graphic design and drawing, and also hopes to learn sign language from different countries. Wanting to understand American deaf education, the lifestyle, their perspective on raising children, their intake on the future; Sebastian wants to become involved with the community because he wants to be able to communicate with other people. This will be Sebastian’s first time joining an American program.