Protect Yourself!

Fighting AIDS -

Deaf students decide it's time to act

The fight against HIV/AIDS has assumed a global dimension. Over 30 million people world-wide are said to be living with HIV/AIDS with more than half of the number living in sub-Saharan Africa.

AIDS is one disease which has the potential to plunge Africa and indeed the global South further down the road of under development and misery. It is not a health issue, but a devastating threat to the overall development process.

There is yet no known cure for the disease but the daily infection rate is on the rise. In Ghana for instance, about 120 people are infected with the disease every day. The country has an accumulated figure of over 50,000 HIV/AIDS cases. Africa and for that matter, Ghana lacks the needed resources to combat the disease and thus the most viable option is to focus on preventative action. Accordingly, public education has been intensified in the various media to educate and warn Ghanaians about the dangers of AIDS.

But one segment of society that has been left out of the public education on HIV/AIDS is the deaf. Though there are no exact figures about the population of the deaf in Ghana, they nonetheless constitute a significant percentage of the population. Marginalised by society, they also constitute one of the more vulnerable groups. Targeting the deaf for HIV/AIDS awareness raising is therefore a strategic imperative.

Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) has in collaboration with the British Council, and with support from the British High Commission engaged the services of a deaf film making company in the UK, Remark!, to produce an HIV/AIDS video for young deaf Ghanaians.

According to Mr Ben Hoefnagels, Programme Officer in charge of VSO's Disability Programme, the video will help tackle some of the communication barriers faced by deaf people in Ghana. Deaf Ghanaians do not enjoy the same access to education as their hearing counterparts, and special needs education in general suffers from long-term neglect by successive governments. No wonder then that the quality of teaching and learning is poor, and children with disabilities are unable to reach their true potential. Under the current situation only a small minority makes it into the education system at all, and most remain illiterate. As a result they are not reached by any of the mainstream public education efforts.

The video will for the first time provide access to HIV/AIDS awareness material for the deaf in Ghana in their own mothertongue: Ghanaian Sign Language. In addition, the project is exposing young deaf Ghanaians to the unique opportunity and stimulation of working alongside professional deaf people from the UK.

The idea for the video came from Helen Phillips, a deaf VSO volunteer working at Cape Coast School for the Deaf. The entire process of the video production, from planning through to the production stage and distribution is being managed in close collaboration with deaf youngsters from Mampong Secondary Technical School for the Deaf, the Special Education Division of the GES and the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD).

The end product will be geared towards reaching as wide an audience as possible, with distribution channeled through Special Education Division, the national, regional and district offices of GNAD and VSO and British Council offices throughout Africa. VSO currently has volunteers supporting the Special Education as teachers, as well as a Management Adviser working with GNAD. As one of the major development issues of our time, HIV/AIDS is a cross-cutting theme in all VSO volunteers' work. According to Mr Hoefnagels, this VSO/British Council project is only the first step in a range of activities to ensure that people with disabilities in Ghana have equal access to the same information and services as their able-bodied fellow citizens.

VSO is convinced that the deaf and other people with disabilities have the same potential and talents as so-called able-bodied people. What is needed is for policy makers and people in general to give the needed support to develop that potential to the fullest, by changing attitudes and learning to look beyond a person's physical limitation.

The Director of Remark!, Mr. Ramon Woolfe hinted that the video would be ready by the 1st December this year to coincide with the celebration of World AIDS Day, and VSO and the British Council are planning a joint launch of the video to mark the occasion. Mr. Woolfe commended the deaf students who participated as actors and dancers in the production of the video for their dedication and commitment adding that deaf can do everything hearing people can, as long as they are given the needed recognition and support. Ramon Woolfe and his company have been involved in work to promote awareness of deaf issues through audio visuals in several parts of the world including Scotland, USA, the Netherlands, Sweden and Russia.

VSO's motivation for coming out with the video is in line with its conviction that development is not sustainable if certain segments of society are excluded from access to vital information that could enhance their participation in the process.