Talk Sign tea aims to bridge the gap

A successful Talk Sign fundraising tea was held at St Martin de Porres School last Saturday.

Talk Sign currently aims to make sign language one of the official languages in South Africa and to promote effective communication between the deaf and hearing communities.

The event was hosted by Kubashnee Perumal, a deaf educator at the school and businesswoman, who is also a Talk Sign ambassador for 2022.

She was supported and assisted by many wonderful people, including the team from Ignite Revolution.

With March declared as Talk Sign month, it was an appropriate time to host such an event.

Those in attendance at the tea were educated about deaf culture as well as the dos and don’ts when it comes to communicating with the deaf.

Guests also received a crash course in sign language and were kept entertained with dance items from learners of St Martin de Porres.

Kubashnee also educated guests about the importance of making an effort and accepting the deaf community and acknowledging that they can do the same things as hearing people.

She added that deaf people face many challenges. For instance, they cannot simply pick up a phone and call somebody in case of an emergency or if they need someone to talk to.

Additionally, communication becomes lost in translation as the gist and passion of their message cannot always be translated.

Guests were encouraged to try to do better and to keep promoting sign language in an effort to eliminate communication barriers.

It was ultimately a fun but educational event, and a big thank you goes to everyone who managed to attend.

Furthermore, staff members of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development showed their support by purchasing stickers in support of Talk Sign, which they wore on March 11 in line with Talk Sign Day.

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