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The session was chaired by Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society, and a trustee of Ka Tutandike Trust UK. The speakers of the panel were: Hon. Alex Ndeezi MP, Uganda's first Deaf Member of Parliament & Executive Director, Uganda National Association of the Deaf ; Epha Ephel Ngota, Teacher at St. Angela School for the Deaf, Kenya & Technical Advisor on Deafness for Deaf Child Worldwide and Nasser Ssenyondo, Programme Officer (Deaf) for Deaf Link and SignHealth Uganda. The speakers spoke with passion and honesty about overcoming internal and external difficulties and inspired the audience with their personal testimonies and their struggles to overcome obstacles to equality and inclusion. Hon Alex Ndeezi recalled the traumatic time when he was 15 and got cerebral malaria, which completely took away his sense of hearing. He and his family tried several options and almost gave up. According to Ndeezi, an official from the Uganda National Association for the Deaf had told him that "although I was Deaf but still alive. That I was deaf but still had brains and that I wasdeaf but still had potential. And that possibly those potentials could be put to good use for the benefit of the community and my country. Using sign-language I could go back to school. Using sign-language I got a bachelors degree. Using sign-language I acquired the confidence, I was able to become a politician. I have used those skills in politics for 15 years. Ndeezi emphasised that in order to protect the rights of the Deaf, we must work hard to ensure that deaf people are not invisible . Epha Ephel Ngota, spoke of the importance of holding governments accountable for their disabled populations. "Don't just say we are doing very well by the 90%, what about the 10% that have disabilities in your population ? Regarding the serious challenges posed by stigma and discrimination against the disabled and the Deaf, Ngota added that "the best way to fight stigma is to involve those people who have the disability themselves" . Nasser Ssenyondo, stressed on the role of family support, that is so crucial to the psychological, intellectual and physical development of a disabled person. He said, "I did not go to a special school but to a regular school, with an interpreter. There was a lot of stigma attached to being Deaf and I constantly heard too much negative words about the Deaf people" . Today Nasser has a degree in social work and social administration from Makerere University and iscurrently pursuing an MBA in human resources management. His philosophy is that education is the enemy of prejudice . In closing the session, Richard Dowden added that "it has been an absolutely amazing inspiring meeting for me personally, I can see frompeople'seyes in this room how fascinated they are by what they've heard. Something amazing comes out of very difficult situations in Africa and I think the situation of disabled people and of deaf people in Africa in particular, is very problematic. But it produces the most inspiring reactions in people" . The discussion covered crucial topics such as family support, combating stigma and discrimination, policy formulation and its implementation by governments, education and employment opportunities, as well as the role of technology in fast tracking development. Many ideas were exchanged over the networking reception that followed the main panel discussion. The event was led by Ka Tutandike Trust UK, in partnership with The Royal Commonwealth Society and Deaf Child Worldwide
For media enquiries, please contact: Anisha Rajapakse, Programme and Partnerships Manager Ka Tutandike Trust UK T: 00 44 (0) 207 024 3515 E: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Disability Activists and Supporters Meet in London |
Over 100 people including representatives from government, civil society, national and international disability-focused organisations, and media gathered at the Royal Commonwealth Society to attend a panel discussion on mobilising Disability-focused Development with a particular focus on the rights of the Deaf in Africa. The strong turnout was a clear indication of the support for disability issues and provided a great platform for idea exchange and generating greater empathy and understanding about Deafness in Africa.