Lokesh Khadka, a 23-year-old deaf Nepalese, is determined to change the society of his home country so that it will accept people with hearing disabilities.
He has just completed 10 months of training in Japan that included a half year at three different institutes -- an independent-living village in Kyoto, a school for the deaf and a sign-language school -- arranged by the Japanese Federation of the Deaf.
"In Nepal, the government doesn't provide enough information to the deaf. The deaf are discriminated against, with lower wages than others performing the same work," Khadka said in sign language.