This campaign is closed

Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru

Against all odds, deaf village boy’s success inspires the fight for Deaf rights in Peru.

You may also be interested in

Caret Left
Caret Right
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed

Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru

Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru

Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru

Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru

Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru

Against all odds, deaf village boy’s success inspires the fight for Deaf rights in Peru.

Against all odds, deaf village boy’s success inspires the fight for Deaf rights in Peru.

Against all odds, deaf village boy’s success inspires the fight for Deaf rights in Peru.

Against all odds, deaf village boy’s success inspires the fight for Deaf rights in Peru.

Holly Wissler
Holly Wissler
Holly Wissler
Holly Wissler
2 Campaigns |
Cusco, Peru
$31,161 USD by 172 backers
$27,295 USD by 156 backers on Dec 15, 2016
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects
Overview
Deaf children in Peru have no education available to them after the 6th grade. Discrimination against the Deaf prohibits employment. My adopted deaf son, Dante, from the Andean community of Q’eros, acquired language only at age 8. Communication has changed his life. Dante’s awakening is the centerpiece of this awareness-raising documentary that shows problems with and proposes solutions for Deaf rights in Peru, through interviews with prominent deaf adults and deaf educators in Lima and Cusco.

 

TRAILER CON SUBTITULOS EN ESPAÑOL

https://vimeo.com/190390606

 

Summary

I am Holly Wissler, Ethnomusicologist and Tour Leader living and working in Cusco, Peru, and friend to most of you who are reading this right now! Many of you helped fund my documentary on the musical rituals of the remote community of Q’eros, Peru (“From Grief and Joy We Sing” 2007). I recently moved to Austin, Texas (2017) for Dante's education at the Texas School for the Deaf.

With your much needed help, we will make a documentary that will galvanize change in Peru in regards to rights for deaf children and adults.

It breaks my heart that my adopted deaf son, Dante, from the beautiful mountain community of Q’eros, Peru, had to leave his home country if he is to have education beyond the 6th grade of elementary school. He is one of the lucky ones! Most deaf children in Peru are fortunate if they complete primary school and even acquire sign language in order to communicate their most basic needs and thoughts. Discrimination against deaf adults prohibits employment, and many are forced to live off of handouts - or if they are employed, they often receive lower pay than hearing people in the same job.

Dante did not walk on his own until age 6, and only acquired sign language at age 7. He moved from his mountain home to Cusco at age 7 to begin his education at the Catholic school for the deaf, San Francisco de Asís. Dante's life-change from dull understimulation and no language, to awakening into joy, vigor, curiosity, and expression of his thoughts and passions, is the centerpiece for this awareness-raising documentary about the fight for the basic rights of all Deaf people in Peru: access to education, communication, interpreter services, employment, and recognition as intelligent, contributing members of society. Interviews with prominent deaf adults and deaf educators in Lima and Cusco explain the obstacles and lack, and propose solutions for Deaf rights in Peru. These leaders challenge the label “disabled” -  a movement that has been strong in the U.S. for decades now, and is just beginning in Peru.

Our team has worked on this documentary voluntarily for three years now, with the majority of the footage shot. We are beginning post-production stages, and with your donation we can complete a cutting-edge documentary that will stimulate these necessary changes in Peru.

 

What We Need & What You Get:

Our five-person grassroots team has donated our time and technical support to shoot about 40+ hours of video footage from which to edit. The footage is from 2003 to the present, from Q’eros, to Cusco. Our goal is to make the documentary available in Peru and the U.S., to the deaf and the hearing. Therefore production will be in 4 languages:

Peruvian Sign Language, American Sign Language, Spanish and English.

 

We need funding for all post-production costs:

-- Editing, color grading, final interviews and supporting material: $13,000

-- Translation (4 languages) and interpretation (Peru and the U.S.): $2,000

-- Sound and music mix:  $2000

--  DVD design and production, DCP and other finishing costs: $3000

For your donation, you will receive specific weavings made directly by the women in Dante’s Q’eros family. In this way, the “perk” you will receive is unique, beautiful and personal, and goes directly to a Q'eros family. 

We aim to finish the film in 2018 so that it can begin circulation through the appropriate ministries, schools, and educational circles and start to do its job of stimulating awareness and change. On a larger scale, the documentary will be a model of what deaf services are needed in under-developing countries, and primarily stimulate change from within.

 

IMPACT: Why this documentary is necessary

 

Ultimately your donation will help to improve the quality of education and lives for the Deaf in Peru.

The documentary will:

1) Stimulate change towards decent education and opportunities for the Deaf

2) Begin the necessary change in the archaic mind-set in Peru that the Deaf are “mentally handicapped” or “less than” – but are full, capable, and equal human beings.

3) Provoke dialogue for solutions, on the individual family level, as well as nationally with educational and governmental institutions that are obligated to provide education and services for the Deaf.

4) Stress the human right of communication, and in particular the natural language of the Deaf - sign - and how basic communication makes a full life possible, as I have seen with Dante.

5) Touch hearts by showing how love conquers all - Dante and I fight against all odds to give him the best life possible, piecing together an education with the help of his dedicated teachers, private tutors, and mentors.

6) Represent all deaf children in Peru, and everywhere, who deserve the very same chance at life as hearing children.

7) Any donations and proceeds that come from the documentary will go to fund seminars and projects to enhance deaf education in Peru.

 

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

Please connect us with organizations and institutions that you believe would support our cause! You can either forward this campaign or write to me personally. I would deeply appreciate this help!

 

THE TEAM:

 

Holly Wissler, Producer, Director, Creator

Pablo Mejía, Editor, camera

Jose Huamán Turpo,  First camera

Enrique Reinoso Astete, Editor, camera

Alejandrina Calancha Monge, Trailer editor

Gina Maldonado, Quechua translator

 

Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
Need more information
Let us know if you think this campaign contains prohibited content.

Choose your Perk

Social Media Shout Out!

$20 USD
A thank you on the documentary's Social Media page.
Estimated Shipping
December 2016
12 claimed

First Digital Download

$50 USD
Your Own Documentary Digital download, hot off the press, of “Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru.”
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
18 claimed

Personalized Hard Copy

$100 USD
A personalized hard copy DVD of “Dante’s Story: The Fight for Deaf Rights in Peru,” signed by Holly & Dante.
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
20 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Hand-woven Q'eros Bag

$250 USD
Documentary copies as stated above, along with an alpaca ch’uspa – a traditional small bag for holding coca leaves (no handles), hand-woven by a woman in Dante’s Q’eros family, with her photo included. This is a typical item owned by every person in the community of Q’eros, for daily and festival use. This way your donation goes directly to a Q’eros family.
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
6 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Lovely Alpaca Perk!

$500 USD
Documentary copies as stated above, plus an alpaca scarf with intricate designs, hand-woven by a woman in Dante’s Q’eros family. Photo of the weaver included.
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
9 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Qeros Textile, Name in Credits

$1,000 USD
Digital download and hard copy of the documentary, plus a hand-woven table runner by a woman in Dante’s family, with her photo, plus your name in credits in the documentary. This shows you were important support of this documentary!
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
3 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Textile & SPECIAL Thanks!

$2,500 USD
Documentary copies as stated above, plus a hand-woven mantle by a woman in Dante's Q'eros family, with her photo - and your name distinguished in credits with "Special Thanks to . . . " This shows your unique place making this documentary happen!
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
1 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Executive Producer!

$5,000 USD
Documentaries as outlined above, and a hand-woven mantle by a woman in Dante's family, with her photo included . . . And the big reward: Executive Producer status in credits. This means this documentary could not have been made without your essential support.
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
0 out of 3 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

You may also be interested in

Up Caret