Empowering Deaf Kenya

I haven't written on this blog for a number of months for a number of reasons, which are not really important. While I have much, much more to say (don't I always?), I wanted to post this article I was asked to write for Empowering Deaf Kenya. It hasn't posted there yet, but I'm assuming it will soon.

Here it is:


If I had all the money in the world and all the best people at my disposal, what would I do today to empower Deaf Kenyans?

1. Develop a center for KSL and Interpretation instruction.
One of the major money-making activities for the Deaf is their language. It is no secret. Many Deaf Kenyans make ends meet by teaching KSL, just like Deaf people do all around the world.

Right now the Kenyan Sign Language Research Project is clearly the center for KSL instruction and Interpreter education. Yet, there is a serious issue looming ahead: When the KIE curriculum for a diploma in KSL interpretation is approved, will KSLRP (which is a project of the University of Nairobi) have the necessary standing to submit candidates to KNEC for certification?

If it will, KSLRP will have to undergo substantial changes to prepare itself to teach the KSL interpretation curriculum. If it does not, there will be need to create another institution to be the center for Interpretation instruction. For various reasons, I think the answer might be the creation of a new institution (which could have some affiliation with KSLRP).

At any rate, there is a pressing need for extensive training of interested Deaf individuals who are interested to work in this field. They will require basic training in linguistics and teaching methodology. This is an urgent need that must be taken seriously. Kenya has already turned a quick corner with the addition of KSL to the examinable subjects in primary and secondary Deaf education. While this is, on one level, a very important step, its implementation has been hasty and wrongheaded.

Successful implementation requires thorough research into KSL and a precise understanding of the role of KSL in the classroom. As it stands, you now have teachers who have poor to modest fluency in KSL teaching from textbooks that treat KSL as a written language heavily tied to English.

There is a need for interested stakeholders to act quickly to develop the necessary research, training, and lobbying necessary for this to be successfully employed.


2. Strengthen KNAD branches.
It is no secret that KNAD, as it stands today, is very weak. KNAD lacks a vibrant staff, funding, ongoing programs, capacity, trust with donors, and trust from the Deaf community it is supposed to represent. Strengthening KNAD is a popular goal, but implementation has been difficult. Just as the national political scene in Kenya has begun to talk about Majimbo and Devolution, I think there is a need for the Kenyan Deaf community to seriously consider these issues in the context of KNAD.

My understanding of KNAD is that originally it was a group of different branches that all operated independently, with their own constitutions, that were finally brought together with the creation of KNAD. In other words, decision-making was made at the branches. Donors moved away from this approach by funding a strong central governing body that was then responsible for controlling the money. When donors lost trust in KNAD, many of the branches, which now relied on Nairobi to pass around the money, also collapsed. (I know it's a simplification of the specific situations at each branch, but clearly the collapse of KNAD has severely hurt many of the branches.)

The branches should be the eyes and hands of the central organization. KNAD is only as strong as its branches. Every effort of KNAD must be reflected on the ground at each of its branches. If KNAD is lobbying for KSL to be recognized as an official language of Kenya, each of the branches must carry out the same effort in their district: contacting the local MPs, city councils, provincial administrators, whoever. Awareness-building doesn't only take place in Nairobi; it has to take place all the way down to the sub-location level. KNAD can't do that, only its branches can!

Furthermore, strengthening the branches means building the capacities of the individuals at the branch level. As this happens, more and more Deaf Kenyans can build the capacity for dealing with bigger budgets, larger projects, etc. As that happens, they can show Deaf Kenyans that they qualify to take a seat at the national level as a result of the successes that they've made at the branch level. Let's end big man politics in the Deaf community and start looking at results. Who can deliver? It doesn't matter where you're from or who your friend is. The only question is: can you make a meaningful difference in the lives of Deaf Kenyans?


3. Fund a network of Deaf leaders who can actively lobby for their issues.
In the long run, I believe the empowered branches should come back together and reevaluate what they want from a national board and who should be on it. The problem is that this process will take years.

There is a need now to begin lobbying for certain issues. The Kenyan Deaf need leaders to stand up, unite, and fight for their rights. The key to making this happen, however, is getting various leaders to put aside their differences, deal with money openly and transparently, and clearly match funding for results. I don't mean making their salaries dependent on the success of their lobbying efforts, only that they need to accomplish certain milestones to demonstrate to the deaf community and donors that they are earning their money.


4. Develop a center for the development of resources designed to help Deaf Kenyans learn other languages (esp. English and Swahili)
One of the worst problems facing Deaf people around the world is a strong proficiency in the writing of a hearing language. Yes, of course, there are a number of amazing Deaf authors who can write very eloquently, but it is clear, all over the world, that getting a child who is pre-lingually deaf and grew up with hearing parents to obtain native or near-native fluency in reading/writing a hearing language is a major challenge.

There are new opportunities and technologies (I mean computers, not hearing aids!) that can now be used to help Deaf people improve their fluency in a given written language. Think eLearning. Think games. Think interactive dialogs that test your ability to understand a wide array of grammatical features of a given language. The possibilities are amazing.

We just need the money and the talent.......


After having worked in and around the Kenyan Deaf community for a total of three years, those are my perceptions of some of its needs, and possible approaches to those needs. But as a hearing foreigner, I can't pretend that I know the Kenyan Deaf community or that I represent it. Deaf Kenyans need to stand up and say what they think. And that is something that I look forward to....