Talk Sign aims to connect
The Talk Sign message to the youth for 2016 is to make an effort to reach out to people who are deaf in South Africa.
THE launch of the 2016 Talk Sign campaign, a KZN Blind and Deaf Society initiative, took place at the Durban Botanic Gardens Conference Centre recently.
According to Shamila Surjoo, director of the KZN Blind and Deaf Society, November is Disability Rights Awareness Month making it the perfect time to launch the campaign.
Talk Sign 2016 focuses on highlighting the plight of people who are deaf in South Africa, encouraging as many people as possible to learn South African Sign Language (SASL), promoting SASL as the country’s twelfth official language and raising money through the sale of Talk Sign stickers to assist with the education and job placement of people who are deaf.
At the opening of the three-day Health Disability and Rehabilitation Summit at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, MEC of Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, said that 20 front line workers were currently being trained in basic sign language and that this number would grow.
, “Disabled people have been sidelined for a long time. We see barriers in communication when our clients use healthcare services. No disabled person should have to compromise doctor-patient confidentiality by involving a third party to communicate their health needs so we are glad training has started. There is nothing wrong with people living with disabilities as they are just like everyone else. They must be empowered to be independent,” said Surjoo.
The 2016 ‘Let’s Connect’ Talk Sign campaign has been created to target the 13 to 25 year olds and will involve a series of memes on Instagram and a competition requiring the youth to take photos, write a motivational saying linked to the ‘Let’s Connect’ theme and submit their entry.
“Our message to the youth for 2016 is – make an effort to reach out to people who are deaf in South Africa. You play the same sports as them, you share the same interests, you both love beautiful images and motivational sayings. You are exactly the same, you just speak a different language so do what you need to do to communicate, connect and cement memories by learning sign language,” she said.
