Arua’s Deaf : Understanding their journeys

This month I showed some of the local deaf people we are
getting to know a brief testimony from Shakeel, a deaf friend at
Coventry Deaf Club. Through it he helped me understand his
past, present and future. My hope was that it would motivate
Arua’s isolated deaf to do the same.

It did! Shakeel’s account has turned out to be a really useful
starting point to gaining a better understanding of deaf
people’s individual circumstances here. I am being inundated
with remarkable, diverse accounts. Several have given me permission to share their
stories with you. I will publish some extracts in a future newsletter.

My long term idea is that deaf people in both Arua and Coventry want to exchange some
of their personal history, key struggles and aspirations. It may even lead to a deaf
exchange visit.

First Paid Job For Temia!
Temia (far right), an unemployed deaf woman was the first to complete a testimony for us
outlining her love of
practical work and her
desire to train as a
builder, so that she could
pass on some vocational
skills to deaf students.

We found a local builder
willing to train her and, to
Temia’s and our delight,
he was so impressed with
her that he decided to
start paying her! This is
her first paid job! The
other builders became
intrigued and asked me to
produce some sign resources to help Temia teach them some sign vocabulary during their
lunch-breaks. They picked up USL really quickly and chuckled as Temia gave each a
signed-name relating to one of their facial features!

Whilst there was only a few weeks work available, her confidence was boosted and
galvanised some other unemployed deaf to be more proactive. She now has an interview
for a year-long sponsored building skills course!

Family News: Visit to Kampala and Jinja
Last week we left Arua at 5am to drive to Kampala (see map)
with some other missionaries to take part in the 10K running
race being held alongside the half and full marathon. All were
sponsored by the mobile phone network MTN. Jerome beat me
by 5mins and Maria was only 5 mins behind me. Helen watched
our bags and cheered us on.

Then we went to Jinja (see map), the source of the Nile and
home of YWAM Uganda’s first base to meet their team, to
learn from them.
We took two boat
trips on the Nile;
one above and one
below the dam
generating hydroelectric
power for
the local area.
Another dam is
under construction
which will
submerge islands
used by local
farmers and falls
popular with white-water canoeists and rafters..
A year or two ago I discovered a biblical town where the River
Jordan was dammed to let Joshua cross on dry land is named
after me. Well, well.. I’ll be ..!

Arua’s deaf : Access to HIV tests?
On our return to Arua via Kampala we collected our visiting friend Claire Stradling (left) from Entebbe airport. Claire, a nutrition specialist had been part of a medical team providing voluntary inservice training for nurses in Johannesburg hospitals in the more effective treatment of people living with HIV.

As I find often happens, World Aids Day was being publicised by Arua’s council whilst Claire was here to witness it and the HIV sign-language training topic the day before. Claire was such an encouragement to us – and saw the funny side when she discovered the sign-name she had created for herself was very similar to the sign for a condom!

The deaf quickly spotted us and their association vice-chair explained that they weren’t offered a blood test because the nurse dealing with them couldn’t understand their responses to the consent form questions. Once I explained to the nurse that I could provide communication support she re-took their details and they were all tested. Claire practiced her new sign with a very young deaf couple and held their baby whilst they were tested.

‘Buddy’ Approach
We are working with local teacher of the deaf, Jonahansifan, to plan a Community Sign Workshop program based in the village of Alioce on the outskirts of Arua.

In this ‘buddy’ approach a friend/relative of the deaf person also attends the sign workshops. The buddy approach proved to be very effective in workshops I piloted with local deaf advocates last November. Attendance was more sustained and higher than usual. Sign vocabulary acquisition and restoration of self-esteem and hope was also faster. I believe this was achieved because the deaf person had a relative/friend with whom to come, and to use, the newly gained vocabulary in between sessions.

Once numbers are known a community meeting will be arranged to clarify specific needs and practical arrangements in preparation for a January start.

Head-teacher at Eruba Deaf Unit, Arua
has also asked us to help co-ordinate a week long sign-language training workshop for his hearing staff. Members of Arua Association of the Deaf are willing to delver the workshops with our support.

Our twice-weekly sign-language classes continue. We join local nurses also wanting to improve. One memorable conversation I had recently concerned a deaf female teenager in the latter stages of her pregnancy. She was anxious to see if some-one from Arua Association for the Deaf could assist with communication during her labour.

There were two challenges: -she was unsure how imminent her child’s birth should be and there were only two fluent signers in the locality – both male. One partially deaf but a father himself; the other hearing but single…

Drama at Deaf Church
At Arua Deaf church, dramatised readings are now being used regularly and dramatically increasing the insights the drama team and viewers gain.

Whilst in Kampala we were invited to share experiences at 50-strong Kampala Deaf Church. The dramatised bible reading of the story of Jonah was fantastic. Their Church of Uganda Deaf pastor, David Bulime has founded a bible training school for the deaf on the same site. We hope to learn more from them next year.

Home-making/-schooling
Maria: Hey  Have been a bit busier these last few weeks. Home schooling is going on as ever – we didn’t even get a half term the slave drivers! Lol only joking :P In Jinja, Mum was able to coach and assess us in a nearby pool for the swimming part of our GSCE PE, uninterrupted by others. On one swim I was joined in the pool by a monitor lizard over a metre long! Getting it out gave everyone much laughter.

Something I’m really excited about is this new Fair Trade Fabric Business I am trying to set up, primarily between local tailors here and my school back in England. It was one of my dreams to create opportunities here for the local people and so I’m really looking forward to developing this! The ball is rolling! 

I have made quite a few new friends and am actually learning a bit of German because quite a few of my new friends are German.  Am playing a lot of volleyball, basketball and soon we will be playing in a local league! Also visiting the local prison with a small base team.I do my own kind of personal update thing and so if you want to receive it email my parents and they can pass your email onto me. Ta! M x

Jerome; Hello I’m drinking hot chocolate shortly so I will be brief we have 9 chickens things are ok. Its too hot at the min but I’m getting to play basketball a lot. Jinja was ok.

Laurence: Hi everybody. Staying in Kampala and Jinja was great. Glad I didn’t have to do the fun-run. Phew woo!  We sometimes having mango wars with other kids on the base, although it can get a bit messy. Having our first visitor, Claire Stradling, from Nuneaton last week was great. Hope you enjoy my poem below.

Whoflungdung?
Said the monkey who swung,
at the bee on the tree, from which he swung.
From the tree he could see whoflungdung
T’was the bee on the tree whoflungdung.
Funnily then the monkey flung dung
at the bee on the tree from which he swung
WHOflungDUNG? WEflungDUNG.
THE BEE AND MONKEY FLUNG DUNG!

YWAM ARUA base co-leader
John Wright, YWAM Arua base co-leader, is from the UK, with a sister in Coventry! He is also partially deaf. He met and married his American wife in NE Uganda.
His vision is to release the potential of the East African church, particularly the youth, through discipleship and leadership training. The goal: Leaders and youth with a passion to honour God, to serve their community, and model God’s concern for all mankind, particularly unreached (and usually very needy) people groups in the countries bordering NW Uganda and beyond.

John recently took a team of YWAM students to an isolated village tribe in Southern Sudan. The village elders had asked YWAM for help to build a track to connect them with the nearest village. Simply reaching the village was very difficult because of the thick under-growth and steep, uneven terrain. In the village there is poor housing, high alcohol dependency, and child illiteracy, and an obsession with animal skull altars. The team completed the track with some villagers who were willing to help. The transfer of hope and desire for future partnership really impacted the team and base.
John and Vicky are also supporting the growth and development of the YWAM Yei base in S. Sudan, situated in an area of great need. The base team currently provides a pre-school for over 100 children, primary health care clinics and discipleship training.