Tsumeb
About 22 deaf men and women in and around Tsumeb have come together to give training to residents and civil servants by teaching them how to communicate in sign language.
The hearing impaired feel there is a great challenge to get assistance when they go to hospitals and police stations, since most civil servants do not understand sign language.
Speaking on behalf of the group through a sign language interpreter, Rosalia Endjala, who is also hearing impaired, said the group volunteered to teach those working with essential services, such as workers at the hospital, at the police stations and some shops.
“The community members do not understand much sign language, therefore we would like to volunteer ourselves to teach our fellow community members sign language and to educate the hearing impaired and other disabled to know that they can do anything, like other people do,” she further stated.
She also noted that in most cases some deaf adults have never attended school and have limited exposure to sign language. She also noted that deaf people often miss out on crucial information, regarding sexual diseases, unwanted pregnancies and even gender-based violence (GBV).
“By teaching deaf people sign language and people around them we want to encourage them to be educated on STDs, unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence,” she said.
Endjala said some parents are not able to take their deaf children to school because they do not have money for transport. She said their group would be assisting those parents by giving classes to those children, who cannot get to school.
“We have been given a class in order to assist them to educate their children by teaching them sign language,” she said. She called on community members to register at the Tsumeb Family Support Centre for training.
“We are also requesting the community to identify deaf people in the area and to contact us for registration. Members of the police force will benefit a lot, because whenever deaf people report a crime committed and they want to get assistance from the police, it is always difficult to understand each other to solve the problem,” she concluded.