SYCNNO's Deaf Cafe

Saturday the 13th of December we attended the first SYCNNO, Shou(w) Y(o)u China Norway, Deaf Cafe in the old city in Yinchuan. This is a cafe where the deaf can meet, communicate together, play games and relax. In the future the cafe will be open to everyone who is interested in joining. It was really fun to see that so many could come. We were between 30-40 people and the ones who showed up seemed to have a great time. It was also a great opportunity for us to learn a few words in Chinese sign language (shou yu). The organizers of this cafe is Alexander Sløk Mjelde and Qin Wen. Both Alexander (2006-7) and Wen (2005-6) are former participants on the Sinonor project. They have together with Tora Hope (2006-7) formed the organization SYCNNO, which is a result of the Sinonorproject. If you are interested in learning more about this organization you could visit the website www.sycnno.no

The Sinonor project has during it's 6 years had different partners. The first 5 years the project partners were RCNUWC, Ningxia University, the CDPF (China's Disabled Persons' Federation) in Ningxia and Fredskorpset.
The cooperation meant approx half and half teaching for CDPF related schools and at the Ningxia University.
The places where the participants taught were The Ningxia Special Education School (for deaf students and also blind students), The Kindergarten for Hearing Impaired Children, The Mentally Disabled School and The Blind Massage Institute.