Deaf Sign Language Posters, Zimbabwe, Euro 1350

Background:
The deaf community in Zimbabwe is very marginalized with very little interaction between general society and the deaf. Sign language is the language of the deaf but very few people outside their community understand or can learn this language. In school a deaf child can be understood but at a clinic, at the police station and even at home there is very little understanding. 

• For instance there was the deaf woman who fell sick in the far north of the country and had to travel 600km to find someone who could explain her symptoms clearly to a doctor. 
• Deaf people are often wrongly accused in law courts unless an interpreter can be found from the nearest school. 
• A deaf person picked up by the police can be kept in the police station for some days while the police try to find someone who can interpret what is being signed.
• A deaf person employed by a local company can be isolated because no one else in the company can understand or use sign language.
• Even in special schools sign language is not understood by all staff and misunderstands can easily occur.
• The government has no policy regarding sign language. The Ministry of Education needs to recognize sign language as a language in its own right. Once it is recognized, there will be more scope to push for sign language to be seen as a subject and medium of instruction.
• The local teachers’ colleges have a special education programme for teachers of the deaf. Yet teachers graduate and are posted to schools with very minimal or no sign language at all. There is too much emphasis on theory and the medical/pathological aspects of deafness rather than on how deaf children learn, their language needs and culture and identity.

National Sign Language.
KGVI is a relatively small centre and we only work with 60 deaf students. However we have a real desire to help our students past, present and future to advance as much as possible. We firmly believe that this will not happen until we have a national sign language that can be introduced to as many Zimbabweans as possible. 

The Proposal
If basic sign language could be taught to people in public institutions and if posters of basic signs could be put up in these offices it would make like much easier for those whose main language is sign. It would also make life easier for those employed in the formal sector if their employers could be issued with a poster and dictionary or dvd with basic everyday signs.
It is our plan to first develop a poster with 100 common signs and the signing alphabet. The poster will consist of photos of people signing the most useful signs for everyday use. The signs will be carefully chosen with the help of the deaf community in King George VI and in the wider area of Bulawayo.
The signs will be collated by one of our ex students who now specializes in filming and editing. The students of KGVI will demonstrate the signs for the poster. We have received a quote from a local printing company who will compile and print the posters.

Once completed the posters will be distributed to public offices such as:
• Police stations
• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Law courts
We will offer other posters for sale to interested companies, doctor’s surgeries, schools and any other interested organisations. Any income received will be put towards the printing of more posters.
The posters will be launched with some publicity both on local radio, print media and television so that they reach as many people as possible.
This is only the first stage in our awareness programme but it will help to advertise that sign language is important and needs to be understood more widely. In the future we intend to develop a dictionary and dvds for distribution. The posters will lay the ground work for this long term campaign.

Budget:
200 x A1 posters (photographs, compilation & printing) total € 1350

Total € 1350,--

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