By Zainab Jobarteh
September is Deaf Awareness Month and International Week of the Deaf begins September 20th, worldwide. The month focuses on promoting the positive aspects of deafness, encouraging social inclusion and raising awareness of organisations that support those who are deaf.
It is an undeniable fact that disabled persons are generally marginalised in our communities. People tend to either forget or ignore their needs, putting them in a corner and making them feel unworthy of opportunities other people are given.
Despite the fair number of associations in the country advocating for the rights of deaf people, these set of individuals still struggle to live a normal and dignified life.
In an interview with Binta Badjie, the former president of The Gambia Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (GADHOH), she said there is no enough awareness around deaf culture in The Gambia. She noted that certain parents and employers spend a significant amount of their lives around deaf people, but still find it difficult to communicate with them effectively.
“We still have employers who call deaf people on the phone and people in our communities who think that paying for sign language is an inconvenience, and as a result, they do not invite deaf people to their activities,’’ she lamented.
She observed that government offices, banks and other service providers do not have service desk occupied by people with disability etiquette training or knowledge of sign language.
“It is a long list of barriers,’’ she pointed out, “communities, government and service providers need to step up in other to change the status quo.’’
Madam Badjie noted that the problem largely lies in families finding it difficult to perceive disability as something positive.
“Many parents or families of deaf children still have the negative perception that they are disabled. By disable, I mean the social perception that a deaf child has no use or that deafness is a condition that renders one useless to family and society,’’ she lamented.
Binta is also a partner at Tulkuya Signs Restaurant where only deaf women are employed and trained. She said they encounter people who are shocked when they find out that they are deaf.
She said while some are eager to learn something new, others get impatient and leave; “and in some cases, others think we are there for entertainment and would even ask us to marry them’’.
Only a handful of deaf people is lucky to receive an education up to university level. Many start school late and others do not go to school at all. Binta believes that babies born deaf should be registered so that government can set up an education programme that will provide tangible support and early education.
