Ode to Brent and Muhammed

Brent is an MCC Service Worker in Salt (just outside Amman), placed at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf.  The institute is a school for deaf children.  MCC specifically supports the Deaf Blind ward of the school.  Of a couple hundred students at the school, only a handful are deaf and blind.  Last year, Brent was placed at the Institute in the SALT program as an English as a Foreign Language teacher - thinking he would only be there for one year.  The school's leadership decided to give Brent a shot at working with the deaf/blind students (despite Brent having had zero past experience or any sort of sign language education).  Brent was such a natural that his job description instantly changed and he extended his one year program in SALT to a three year Service Worker position.  He's learning Arabic, Arabic sign language and some English sign language and has amazed Institute staff with the progress he's made working almost exclusively with Muhammed, an 18 year old student who has been at the school since he was very young.

Muhammed is deaf and blind, incredibly smart and has a wicked sense of humor.  Whenever Brent tells him to smile, he makes the face you see above - to cheese for the camera.  Later, we saw his bright grin while he listened to music on Brent's iPod - his reward for focusing on the work assigned on his Braille machine.  Before Brent arrived last year, Muhammed's communication skills were extremely limited. 

The staff at the institute thought that Muhammed understood Braille but Brent figured out that in fact, Muhammed had simply memorized an entire book of Braille.  He could find and read the words based only on where they were placed in the book in relation to other words - basically, in a memorized order. 

Brent realized that Muhammed didn't even have a concept for what "words" and "sentences" are.  He didn't connect meaning to any of the Braille or sign language he had memorized.  When I think about the time and energy it would take to put myself into the mind of someone who is deaf and blind, to try to understand how they experience the world and figure out how to help them express themselves I am awestruck at the progress Brent and Muhammed have made together this year.

Brent and Muhammed are touching all day long as Muhammed "reads" what Brent signs to him.  Together, their fluency in Arabic sign language has skyrocketed in the last several months.  Additionally, Brent is teaching Muhammed to read and write Braille.  Muhammed's understanding of language (words, sentences, meaning, expressions) has blossomed and their relationship reflects the love, commitment and respect they feel for one another.

Brent has plans to further equip Muhammed for life outside the walls of the school.  With two more years in front of them, there is so much they can accomplish together to improve the quality of Muhammed's life.  Brent's blog is called "Love Speaks Louder Than Words or Images".  He couldn't have chosen a more apt description of his time with Muhammed.  I have rarely seen another person who gives love as selflessly as Brent does.  Ryan and I are extremely grateful to be on the same team with Brent, and to learn from and be inspired by the journey he and Muhammed are on together.