MANAD recently organized a successful joint meeting for parents of Deaf children and duty bearers on September 9th in Balaka District. This meeting followed a productive three-day sign language training and was attended by 20 parents of Deaf children and 8 duty bearers from various sectors, including education, health, youth and sports, the Malawian Council for the Disability Affairs, Community Development, Save the Children, and Social Welfare.
The purpose of the meeting was to foster collaboration between parents and duty bearers to address the challenges faced by Deaf children. During the session, MANAD Acting Programme Officer Malonje Phiri outlined MANAD’s mission, objectives, and core activities, highlighting the significant communication barriers that Deaf children encounter in accessing education.
Participants shared their experiences and challenges. Police officers reported difficulties in understanding Deaf individuals’ complaints. “We encountered communication challenges when dealing with Deaf clients,” noted Robert Njalammano, a Balaka Police officer. Health officials also discussed issues, including instances where Deaf patients received incorrect medications due to communication barriers. In the education sector, Mr. Wilfred Sande, an education official, highlighted the shortage of special needs teachers in Balaka, where there are over 30 teachers serving a dispersed population of Deaf learners.
Save the Children’s representative in Balaka, Mr. Chisoni Lundu, expressed gratitude to MANAD for their involvement, noting the difficulty in engaging parents of Deaf children despite their ongoing work with parents in general.
To address these issues, parents of Deaf children established a committee to oversee matters related to Deaf children in the district. Similar committees already exist in Ntcheu, Blantyre, Phalombe, Mangochi, Dedza, and Neno. The next step will involve organizing similar activities in four additional districts, scheduled to follow International Deaf Week.
