People living with speech and hearing impediment are perhaps one of the most vulnerable group in the country because very little attention is paid to them unlike in the western societies where the governments give them special attention by ensuring that their welfare is well taken care of.
But not in this clime, where most people, including members of their own families, see the deaf as necessary “evil”.
However, It was an eye-opener for most people who attended the first Deaf Talent Show tagged “Naija Deaf Got Talent,” held in Owerri, Imo State capital on October 26, as they were thrilled by the elegant performances exhibited by these “special” people as they danced to the rhythm of the music to the amazement of the audience.
The event which featured cultural dance, ballet dance and drama was put together by Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiatives-S-Deli, a non-governmental organization in collaboration with All Seasons Hotel Owerri, was aimed at bringing out the latent talents in those with speech and hearing impairment.
The Project Head of the S-Deli, Dr Emma Asonye, told Oriental News that the organization was primarily conceived to fight for the vulnerable in the society, especially the deaf, as well as to give them voice through different unique human development programmes and events such the Naija Deaf Got Talent.
He revealed that the organization would be embarking on ICT training for the deaf children in Imo State as part of the Millennium Development Goals.
“Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiative S-Deli is conceived as a medium through which we can give speech to the speechless and voice to the voiceless through different unique human development programmes and events such as the one we are witnessing today. It is a long term project whose first five years is dedicated to the training of deaf children in Imo State in ICT education, which is one of the Millennium Development Goals of our country. Naija Deaf Got Talent, the debut of fighting for the vulnerable is the first ever deaf talent show in the history of Nigeria,” he said.
He also stated that deaf people ought to be part of the nation’s work force, contributing their quota to the nation’s socio-economic development and working out a better livelihood for themselves and their community, but that their age long marginalization has continued to shut them out of the larger community.
“We all – the families, the government, the church and the entire society – have ignorantly contributed to the situation in which they are,” he noted.
Also speaking at the event Mrs Ngozi Opara, a retired vice principal, said she was very happy to see some of her former students performing at the talent show and thanked the organizers for giving the students a sense of belonging.
Mrs Opara admonished parents not to isolate their wards who have speech and hearing impairment but to instead give them the opportunity to be educated and develop on their own pace, saying that isolating them would only result in their becoming aggressive.
“Isolating children with speech and hearing impairment is stigmatization and it would make the children to become overtly aggressive because having speech and hearing impairment is already enough communication problem, and so isolating them would create a bigger problem because they will feel neglected. So, parents should learn the necessary skills, especially the sign language to help their wards with such problem to integrate in the society.
“Most people will be surprised that those students performing this cultural dance are actually deaf, but they are to put up this wonderful performance because those who have been teaching them were able to bring out the innate talents in them and this is what we are saying that if given the confidence and encouraged that those in their situation would become useful not only to themselves, their families but also the society at large,” she said.
Similarly, Prof V. Obioma of the Imo State University who was also thrilled by the performance of the deaf students stated that what the talent event had shown was that being deaf was not the end of the world.
“Being deaf does not mean that you don’t have talents. These young persons have shown today that their disability is not the end for them and I must commend the organizers for this wonderful initiative and they should make it a regular event,” he pleaded.
No comments:
Post a Comment