Hello Deaf community, how are you all?
It’s a brief message from me today.
Thanks again to everyone out in the community working, volunteering and supporting your families and friends to say safe through the Covid-19 situation. Thank you again for all your hard work.
Thank you to the interpreters who’ve been working, interpreting via video from homes. Also to the interpreters working in public, i.e. for the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health. Thank you to all the interpreters who are working extremely hard in these difficult and different circumstances.
Thanks to those of you sending feedback and suggestions how to improve situations and Deaf Aotearoa’s response to Covid-19. Thank you – really valuable ideas. Many of your ideas we have received were great. We have implemented and changed the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) of the interpreters on TV and another suggestion included having the interpreters wear shorter/rolled up sleeves. Thank you, we did that really quickly. Thank you again for your valuable advice and suggestions, they have been really positive and its been great to receive them.
All of our staff are working at home. It is different, and it is not easy but it has been interesting. Many staff has said they’re more productive, are able to focus on work better at home. It is interesting, staff/facilitators and connecting with their local communities every week, checking in. Our iSign Customer Booking officers are checking in with interpreters making sure they’re good and okay.
Thanks to all of our staff and interpreters who are working hard behind the scenes and being available outside normal hours, over weekends, early mornings and late nights to be available for the Deaf community and doing their jobs differently from before.
Now it is almost Easter time, here’s hoping the Easter bunny will visit you!
Please stay safe over Easter. Bye!