Society

People With Disabilities Are Equally Capable
...yet their trauma continues
Everson Kalinda

sign language

He had the necessary qualifications, alright.   He was bright.  He was energetic.
 He walked into the interview room and stood confidently looking at the panel.
For a moment the Chairman wanted to chase back the second person who had entered at the same time Jonas Napota had entered.
But being a wise man and a seasoned Chairman of an interviewing panel, rather than chasing him away he asked:
“Why have you come along with Napota?  We interview one person at a time.”
At that point Napota stretched his hands and moves them around for a second.
Instantly, the second person spoke almost simultaneously.
“I am his sign language interpreter,”  she said.

The panel was struck in shock.  Dumbfounded!
Then the reality struck them!  Napota was deaf.
They let him proceed with the interview.  When he finally finished the interview and left, most of the panel members gave him A-plus.  In an ideal situation, he had beaten almost every applicant. In a layman’s language he had passed the interview with flying colours.
It was never to be!
The representative of the company that had advertised the vacancy rejected him.
“He will be a liability to us,” he said, adding “what would happen if the interpreter fell sick or was engaged elsewhere?  In any case the company will not benefit much from Napota with that communication barrier.”
Other members of the group including the Chairman could not have agreed with him any further.
So Napota was dropped!
This is just one example out of numerous ones of the excruciating devastating trauma that people with disabilities go through during their daily living.

deaf guys

But Juliana Tupokiwe Mwase, Chairperson of  Malawi National Association of the Deaf (MANAD) says the situation could be reversed through sensitization meetings and trainings on the capabilities of people with disabilities.
She says employers should assist  MANAD’s efforts by training their employees to become sign language interpreters.

She encourages people with disabilities not to despair but to enjoy their rights and work hard to live happier life.
Mwase, a former student of Providence Secondary School, second born in a family of 7 from Salima district, was born on 23rd March 1974 a normal child.  She lost her hearing while in Standard 3 after a short bout of malaria in 1983.
But her mother refused to be intimidated by natural calamities.  She took her daughter to the Education Centre for the Deaf in Chiradzulu where she got enrolled at Montfort Demonstration School.  She did her primary school up to standard 8 and was selected to Providence Girls Secondary School in Mulanje in 1991. ...continued below

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Quotes.

I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator. Richard Branson

A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it. George W. Bush


After obtaining her MSCE in 1995, she did Secretarial Studies and Accounting at the University of Malawi, Polytechnic . She is currently working as Accounts Clerk at Kachere Rehabilitation Centre.
She has not given up education!  She is pursuing Business Administration at the Soche Technical College and aspires to do masters Degree in PhD.girl

She says: “I have always worked very hard to be where I am.  It’s not easy to be in class when you are deaf and the teacher does not know how to communicate with you.  On numerous occasions, I relied on reading extra hard.  Sometimes people joked that I would get mad but I did not listen to them, I did not stop because I knew I had to make it like any student.”
She continues: “I urge my colleagues, people with disabilities not to give up but to be determined to achieve their goal because like anybody else - the sky ought to be the limit.  They should cultivate a fighting spirit to float above the waters like anybody else because we are equally capable!”

She advises parents with children of disabilities to send them to school as early as possible.
Her words of encouragement to people with disabilities are corroborated by Bryan Marshall (47) from Scotland.   He works with Deaf Action in that country as a Tutor of sign language to hearing people.  He also teaches IT/Computer skills to Deaf people at Deaf Action in Edinburgh.  He is married with 2 children.

Marshall says determination and willpower should be the pillars of people with disabilities.  He says there are a lot of normal people who have not achieved much in life and die miserably.
“Therefore they cannot be a threat to us.  We are able to reach greater heights.  I encourage people with disabilities to engage in development activities to improve their welfare, most importantly education.”

Deaf Action has done a lot to assist Deaf organisations such as MANAD.  Currently Deaf Action in conjunction with the Malawi Government is funding sign language interpreters training project being held in phases.
Marshall’s interpreter Nicola Mannally appeals to governments and organisations to assist people with disabilities to access education and trainings to equip them to get better employment and have improved lives.

blindman polio victim lame man
A Blind man Polio Victim Lame legs

Honourable Clement Khembo, Minister responsible for people with disabilities opened the sign language interpreters training project at Grace Bandawe recently and reiterated government’s commitment to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Khembo said government through his Ministry  has developed a Policy of Equalization of opportunities for people with disabilities to promote their accessibility to all forms of benefits and rights that everybody else accesses.
“Government will do everything possible to improve the welfare of people with disabilities.  One way of achieving this commitment is the policy that government developed,” said  Khembo.
The sign language interpreters training project aims at training more sign language interpreters by collaborating with government departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), various institutions and departments and the entire society.
They are capable!