Een hoopvolle toekomst
voor dove kinderen in Uganda
Een hoopvolle toekomst voor dove kinderen in Uganda
In Uganda, a deaf child is often seen as something negative. It is a child who will likely never hold a paid job, and therefore won’t serve as a means of support for the parents in their old age. Sometimes, a deaf child is even seen as a curse from God. Many fathers want nothing to do with such a child and leave the family behind.
We show these children and their families that they are valuable. Parents notice the love and care with which we approach the children. We also visit families in their homes and organize an annual Parent’s Day, where we offer workshops to parents and caregivers on how to best support their deaf child. Such a day creates a sense of community among parents, helping them realize they are not alone in their struggles.
Deaf children cannot naturally learn spoken language. However, sign language is fully accessible to them. They can learn it just as easily and quickly as hearing children learn a spoken language. They must be fully immersed in sign language, and this is exactly what happens at a school for the deaf.
That’s why it’s so important for deaf children to have access to deaf education from a young age. Thanks to the sponsorship of Signs of Hope, deaf children are able to attend school and often, for the first time, learn to express themselves in an accessible language.
Deaf children cannot naturally learn spoken language. However, sign language is fully accessible to them. They can learn it just as easily and quickly as hearing children learn a spoken language. It is essential that they are fully immersed in sign language, and this is exactly what happens at a school for the deaf. That’s why it’s so important for deaf children to have access to deaf education from a young age. Thanks to the sponsorship of Signs of Hope, deaf children are able to attend school and often, for the first time, learn to express themselves in an accessible language.
Many children in Uganda attend boarding schools. This gives parents the opportunity to work, reduces the need for children to travel long distances after school days, and can sometimes be more affordable. Most deaf children also live at boarding school because they live far from the school. A school semester lasts just over three months.
During this time, parents often only visit once, on the scheduled visiting day. The children sleep in dormitories, and there is usually only one adult for dozens of children. As a result, the children are largely reliant on each other.
We believe it’s important that every child receives individual attention. That’s why we plan to build housing for twelve children, along with a motherly figure, in our new school. This will allow the children to grow up in a more homely environment.
Parents or caregivers remain responsible for their children. Unfortunately, many parents have limited knowledge of sign language. The children are only at home during school holidays, and the opportunities to truly learn sign language are limited.
As Signs of Hope, we emphasize the importance of sign language to parents. We do this during home visits, where we practically demonstrate how effectively we can communicate with the child using sign language. We also organize a Parent’s Day, where we always offer a lesson in Ugandan Sign Language. On such days, we provide other workshops to equip parents with the tools to raise their deaf child effectively.