This plea by humble but passionate bush-village teacher, Margaret (above left), desperate to release the potential of the two deaf children in her class of 80 plus (right) was a key moment for us back in Aug.07 on our first and next trip to Arua district, North Uganda…We invited Margaret, to join us on a visit we ‘happened’ to be making later that week to Arua one of North Uganda’s few schools for the Deaf (pictured below), where we all learnt much more about the needs of deaf youth and adults too..
“Ugandan deaf people lack tools to communicate, learn, earn, and participate!”-
Was the repeated message we got as we have travelled across Arua.
We discovered that:
· The above-average no. of deaf people in West Nile is partly due to preventable causes, such as lack of childhood vaccines, poor ear hygiene awareness and the mal-administration of drugs.
· Ugandan Sign Language (U.S.L.) is in print, but it is unknown, unaffordable and un-usable by communities with deaf people, who mostly live in bush villages and can’t read.
· There are few carers for the deaf in communities and they have sparse resources.
· Most deaf youth/ adults are without employment or respect in their community.
Uganda deaf people are often misunderstood, frustrated and lonely. - Isolated!
Was the repeated impression we had as we listened to numerous deaf and their carers. We discovered that deaf people’s personal, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development needs are unmet! Their vulnerability to neglect or abuse or environmental hazards also increases. This situation, we have learnt, is common in other developing/war-torn countries too!
“Would you come and teach this language to my deaf villagers?” - Exclaimed the Arua Town shopkeeper, Helen, amazed, as she handed us our Ugandan Sign Language Manuals. She’d had to order them from Entebbe, 300+ miles away! This comment emphasised the widespread need again.
Our visit reflected some Global deaf statistics I'd read before:
Approximately 250 million people have severe or profound hearing loss.
. . . and more than two-thirds of them live in the Third World.
70 million people are profoundly deaf . . .
. . . and over 80 % of these have no access to education.
90% of the deaf have hearing parents . . .
. . . and only 1 in 10 of these parents can communicate with their child in sign language.
