A Fort McCoy soldier is doing what he can to help an Afghan father and his deaf daughter learn how to communicate.

Sergeant Carlos Munoz, a Civil Affairs Marine assigned to 3d Civil Affairs Group, is helping 3-year-old Fatemeh and her father learn American Sign Language (ASL).

Fatemeh and her father are both Afghan evacuees staying at Fort McCoy while they wait to be resettled in a good home.

Fort McCoy officials noted that when Fatemah and her family first arrived at the military base, Fatemeh’s father had not mentioned that his daughter was deaf because he didn’t think there would any support services available to her.

“In the villages where we come from there are no schools for unique children, especially in religious areas or small villages,” said Fatemeh’s father. “I think you could only find schools for deaf people in the big cities, but I’m 29 and have never seen it.”

It was after a routine check that Fort McCoy officials first discovered that Fatemeh was deaf and that she and her family could not communicate with one another.

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