CSFBHI annually offers two $A2000 scholarships for visually- and hearing-impaired individuals, or an entity supporting them. The Personal Pursuit and Empowerment Scholarship (PPES) gives cash assistance to qualifying persons or entities participating in self-improvement vocational or recreational programs in support of their life goals, or an entity providing those services. The basic conditions include:
- aged 16 years or older (no limit)
- enrolled or already attending a recognised training/recreational program or entity (e.g. Auslan Training)
- be connected to the Christian community
- be legally sight impaired (if a blind applicant)
- have a demonstrated need or goal
- provide outcomes of the pursuit or program undertaken
- be willing to provide reports for promotional purposes, including photographs and video
For full details, contact us, or to download the PPES Award pdf.
Previous PPES recipients
Jessica,
Jessica, from Sydney, a fully sighted and hearing person, is a volunteer church worker who is personally investing in helping the Deaf, learning Auslan in order to become a pastor to the Deaf community. Her PPES is funding her Deaf Society Diploma of Interpreting studies.
“Learning more about Deaf culture and increasing my Auslan fluency will allow me to create a point of access to the Seventh-day Adventist Church for any Deaf person living in Sydney,” she says.
Tim
Tim, a young man who once attended a CSFBHI New Vision Camp for the Blind as a teen, used his PPES to partially fund a residential independent living course in the USA.
Jeanette,
Jeanette, aged 16 in 2018, is profoundly Deaf, comes from the remote Gaua Island of Vanuatu. She is a student at Matafanga Adventist Primary and Special Needs School on the island. Her PPES in part funded her to fly to Brisbane to receive tuition in Auslan from a highly skilled and fluent Auslan teacher. Her much improved signing ability has equipped her with the necessary skills to earn an internationally recognised High School Leaver’s Certificate (Australian Year 12 equivalent). On her return home, her parents and the school noted how that she was so much more confident in communicating using sign language, especially with strangers. This has inspired her profoundly Deaf younger sister to also use and improve her sign language.
Listen to Jeanette here tell something of her experience.
Eyes for India (corporate) < https://www.facebook.com/Eyesforindiaoceania/>
Eyes for India is an Australia-based charity working in India, where it provides cataract surgery for the restoration of sight of hundreds of blind persons annually, in the style of Fred Hollows. Their PPES provided needed cash for eye operations for scores of affected people on the Subcontinent.
Deaf Church Down Under (corporate)
The Deaf Church Down Under, operated by Mark Davey (pictured on the left), with the support of his Logan Reserve, Queensland, church, runs an extensive range of Auslan-interpreted programs for the Deaf. It is the chief organiser of the CSFBHI-supported Deaf Camps, which it has run annually, first at the Natural Arch, Queensland, at Jindbyne, NSW, and most recently at the Catalina Conference Centre, Rathmines, NSW.
CSFBHI is a proud PPES supporter and sponsor of both the organisation and the camps, which happens each November.