Date: 02/03/2004
Source: Ministry of Health
Title: M Tshabalala-Msimang: Launch of videos and material for deaf children
SPEECH FOR THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AT THE LAUNCH OF THE VIDEOS AND OTHER MATERIAL FOR DEAF CHILDREN HELD AT ELDORADO PARK COMMUNITY HALL, 2 March 2004
Programme Director
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
And most important of all, the young people here today.
For many of us here today the situation of being deaf is something we will never understand. We can try to understand. We can try to remember the statistics. We can even empathise ... but we will never really know what it is like to be deaf. The reality is that we can never fully share the experiences that deaf people go through.
The deaf are people, like the rest of us. They have desires, dreams, ambitions, plans, problems, relationships ... all the issues that all of us have to deal with as we 'strut our hour across the stage of life', but with one big difference - they cannot hear!
The general predisposition of society is to classify a deaf person only according to a medical understanding of deafness. But to the deaf, deafness is not only a medical condition. It is a cultural and linguistic distinction. Being deaf means that you belong to a separate cultural group that includes profoundly deaf to hard-of-hearing people. This is a group whose identity - deaf - is spelt with a capital D.
There are also other members forming part of this group. These include partners and family members of deaf people or some South African Sign Language interpreters, the latter being very important indeed to the deaf because Sign Language is a language on its own. It is beautiful and rich and can embrace anything from politics to poetry as we have experienced here today. It belongs to the deaf in the same way that your mother tongue belongs to you.
The Department of Health has taken these facts into consideration when proposing that a programme be put together that addresses life skills and healthy living in general, and HIV and AIDS specifically, in a way that acknowledges the very unique and specific requirements of the deaf.
Healthy living propagates a combination of lifestyle options that are not harmful to oneself or others. It is critically important that all learners, including the deaf, start as early as possible to acquire information on a wide variety of health-related and social issues and learn to develop the necessary and appropriate skills to deal with these effectively to enjoy healthy living.
All children and young people need to learn and appreciate how their actions and choices affect their health and personal happiness, and that learning helps us to make positive, informed choices in all areas of life and personal development.
This is critically important in an era when children and young people are exposed to pressures and challenges often resulting in violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections or even HIV, each with its own impact on the life of the young person and his or her family.
The Department of Health is very pleased to have initiated a project that is addressing these very issues and great pride is taken in the videos, educator manuals, learner activity books and posters that have been developed and that are launched here at this special function today. We are also very proud of the fact that it is a first of its kind in South Africa and Africa.
In line with education policy regarding inclusive education, material development was based on existing life skills and HIV and AIDS education programme for primary and secondary schools. I am convinced that the material will go a long way to empower deaf children and young people with various life skills and information on a range of social and health matters.
These include human rights, gender issues, relationships, hygiene, oral- and mental health, substance-, sexual- and child abuse, sexuality, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV and AIDS. I have no doubt that it will contribute to the decline in HIV infection rate observed in the under 20 years of age group over the past four years.
It is important to note that this is also just the beginning of work that needs to be done amongst the deaf in making information on HIV and AIDS and related matters more easily accessible. Until now, it is true to say that the deaf have been very vulnerable in these areas.
The training of teachers and caregivers of deaf learners on how to use the said material has already started. During the five sessions of training the trainers conducted thus far, it became clear that there is a need for follow-up sessions. It was equally clear that parents of deaf children must receive assistance on how to communicate more effectively with their children on health-related matters in general and sexuality specifically. We will be exploring this as a top priority.
In addition to the above, we as a department have also trained 127 health workers in basic sign language. This course enables health workers to facilitate communication between deaf clients and the rest of the health team. What we need to explore now is intensive sign language training for HIV and AIDS counsellors.
This is necessary, because the use of sign language interpreters in HIV counselling raises a number of ethical questions. The presence of a third party in the form of an interpreter, for an example, could affect the confidential nature of voluntary counselling and testing.
The ability of service providers, and HIV and AIDS counsellors in particular, to communicate in sign language is also of paramount importance.
It is important for them to understand the nuances of the deaf culture as it relates to sign language and life skills training. A counsellor who does not understand the deaf culture for instance may fail to put across a message about someone's HIV status.
In the deaf culture it is a good thing to be positive. For a deaf person to understand that in this case positive is actually negative, the counsellor must be conversant with deaf issues.
Doors of communication have been opened by this project in a number of ways. One example is that the project has essentially been done 'by the deaf for the deaf'. This is a very important aspect. So often in the past, in areas of disability, work has been done for disabled people and not with disabled people thus creating an atmosphere of condescension and creating the impression that disabled people cannot fend for themselves.
Nothing could be further from the truth! The deaf are as equally, and in some instances even more capable of doing things for themselves when given the opportunity to do so. Of the service provider team of six in this project, four are deaf and one is an artist who has produced some of the artwork for the activity books and posters. We also tried by all means to ensure that all the outsourcing on the project to deaf individuals where available. This is a living testimony of our commitment to better the lives of our irrespective of their different abilities.
Another exciting aspect of opening doors of communication is that partnerships have been created for this project between the Departments of Health and Education, the Deaf Federation of South Africa, Sign Language Education Development and the Disability Sector of the South African AIDS Council. All of these organisations have played a role in the successful finalisation of this project.
Furthermore, meaningful life skills, sexuality and HIV and AIDS education require shared responsibility of learners, caregivers and educators and also safe, health-promoting environments and support services from the community. In this regard more partnering has taken place to further the aims of the project.
It is my pleasure today to extend a very sincere vote of thanks to all those who have been involved in this project over the past 21 months and who continue to give of themselves to this critically important effort.
A special word of thanks must go to the European Union which was the main sponsor of this project and, last but not least, officials of the Department for their hard work and dedication.
All human beings are entitled to health and wholeness regardless of background, educational status, gender and culture. It is the right of all people. It is my sincere hope that this programme will go a long way towards achieving a greater sense of health, wholeness and well-being in the Deaf community.
Thank you for being with us today.
Issued by: Ministry of Health
2 March 2004
Source: Department of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za)
Source: Ministry of Health
Title: M Tshabalala-Msimang: Launch of videos and material for deaf children
SPEECH FOR THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AT THE LAUNCH OF THE VIDEOS AND OTHER MATERIAL FOR DEAF CHILDREN HELD AT ELDORADO PARK COMMUNITY HALL, 2 March 2004
Programme Director
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
And most important of all, the young people here today.
For many of us here today the situation of being deaf is something we will never understand. We can try to understand. We can try to remember the statistics. We can even empathise ... but we will never really know what it is like to be deaf. The reality is that we can never fully share the experiences that deaf people go through.
The deaf are people, like the rest of us. They have desires, dreams, ambitions, plans, problems, relationships ... all the issues that all of us have to deal with as we 'strut our hour across the stage of life', but with one big difference - they cannot hear!
The general predisposition of society is to classify a deaf person only according to a medical understanding of deafness. But to the deaf, deafness is not only a medical condition. It is a cultural and linguistic distinction. Being deaf means that you belong to a separate cultural group that includes profoundly deaf to hard-of-hearing people. This is a group whose identity - deaf - is spelt with a capital D.
There are also other members forming part of this group. These include partners and family members of deaf people or some South African Sign Language interpreters, the latter being very important indeed to the deaf because Sign Language is a language on its own. It is beautiful and rich and can embrace anything from politics to poetry as we have experienced here today. It belongs to the deaf in the same way that your mother tongue belongs to you.
The Department of Health has taken these facts into consideration when proposing that a programme be put together that addresses life skills and healthy living in general, and HIV and AIDS specifically, in a way that acknowledges the very unique and specific requirements of the deaf.
Healthy living propagates a combination of lifestyle options that are not harmful to oneself or others. It is critically important that all learners, including the deaf, start as early as possible to acquire information on a wide variety of health-related and social issues and learn to develop the necessary and appropriate skills to deal with these effectively to enjoy healthy living.
All children and young people need to learn and appreciate how their actions and choices affect their health and personal happiness, and that learning helps us to make positive, informed choices in all areas of life and personal development.
This is critically important in an era when children and young people are exposed to pressures and challenges often resulting in violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections or even HIV, each with its own impact on the life of the young person and his or her family.
The Department of Health is very pleased to have initiated a project that is addressing these very issues and great pride is taken in the videos, educator manuals, learner activity books and posters that have been developed and that are launched here at this special function today. We are also very proud of the fact that it is a first of its kind in South Africa and Africa.
In line with education policy regarding inclusive education, material development was based on existing life skills and HIV and AIDS education programme for primary and secondary schools. I am convinced that the material will go a long way to empower deaf children and young people with various life skills and information on a range of social and health matters.
These include human rights, gender issues, relationships, hygiene, oral- and mental health, substance-, sexual- and child abuse, sexuality, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV and AIDS. I have no doubt that it will contribute to the decline in HIV infection rate observed in the under 20 years of age group over the past four years.
It is important to note that this is also just the beginning of work that needs to be done amongst the deaf in making information on HIV and AIDS and related matters more easily accessible. Until now, it is true to say that the deaf have been very vulnerable in these areas.
The training of teachers and caregivers of deaf learners on how to use the said material has already started. During the five sessions of training the trainers conducted thus far, it became clear that there is a need for follow-up sessions. It was equally clear that parents of deaf children must receive assistance on how to communicate more effectively with their children on health-related matters in general and sexuality specifically. We will be exploring this as a top priority.
In addition to the above, we as a department have also trained 127 health workers in basic sign language. This course enables health workers to facilitate communication between deaf clients and the rest of the health team. What we need to explore now is intensive sign language training for HIV and AIDS counsellors.
This is necessary, because the use of sign language interpreters in HIV counselling raises a number of ethical questions. The presence of a third party in the form of an interpreter, for an example, could affect the confidential nature of voluntary counselling and testing.
The ability of service providers, and HIV and AIDS counsellors in particular, to communicate in sign language is also of paramount importance.
It is important for them to understand the nuances of the deaf culture as it relates to sign language and life skills training. A counsellor who does not understand the deaf culture for instance may fail to put across a message about someone's HIV status.
In the deaf culture it is a good thing to be positive. For a deaf person to understand that in this case positive is actually negative, the counsellor must be conversant with deaf issues.
Doors of communication have been opened by this project in a number of ways. One example is that the project has essentially been done 'by the deaf for the deaf'. This is a very important aspect. So often in the past, in areas of disability, work has been done for disabled people and not with disabled people thus creating an atmosphere of condescension and creating the impression that disabled people cannot fend for themselves.
Nothing could be further from the truth! The deaf are as equally, and in some instances even more capable of doing things for themselves when given the opportunity to do so. Of the service provider team of six in this project, four are deaf and one is an artist who has produced some of the artwork for the activity books and posters. We also tried by all means to ensure that all the outsourcing on the project to deaf individuals where available. This is a living testimony of our commitment to better the lives of our irrespective of their different abilities.
Another exciting aspect of opening doors of communication is that partnerships have been created for this project between the Departments of Health and Education, the Deaf Federation of South Africa, Sign Language Education Development and the Disability Sector of the South African AIDS Council. All of these organisations have played a role in the successful finalisation of this project.
Furthermore, meaningful life skills, sexuality and HIV and AIDS education require shared responsibility of learners, caregivers and educators and also safe, health-promoting environments and support services from the community. In this regard more partnering has taken place to further the aims of the project.
It is my pleasure today to extend a very sincere vote of thanks to all those who have been involved in this project over the past 21 months and who continue to give of themselves to this critically important effort.
A special word of thanks must go to the European Union which was the main sponsor of this project and, last but not least, officials of the Department for their hard work and dedication.
All human beings are entitled to health and wholeness regardless of background, educational status, gender and culture. It is the right of all people. It is my sincere hope that this programme will go a long way towards achieving a greater sense of health, wholeness and well-being in the Deaf community.
Thank you for being with us today.
Issued by: Ministry of Health
2 March 2004
Source: Department of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za)
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