Hi there,
I'm a South African living in the wild urban jungles of Gauteng. I'm not deaf but I have a deaf friend, one of my closest and oldest friends has a blind and deaf brother and last week I met a deaf woman who seems intelligent but is unemployed, living on a disability grant and struggling to find work. To make things worse she has an old computer with no internet access and a phone that can only make phone calls and SMS.
I can't imagine life without internet access, I'm sure it must be worse for the deaf or am I mistaken? It must be awful for her not being able to look for work online or chat with people - there's no way she can afford to SMS all day (We're charged per SMS here.)
While I do make decent money I can't afford to go out and buy her all these things she needs but I can hopefully make a difference. I already stocked her house up with food last weekend. I have managed to arrange for a phone that can use whatsapp but needs a charger; as well as a 3G modem but it needs a SIM which is a problem as internet access is also expensive here. What I do want to know is am I going the right path by focusing on getting her connected? Will it make a big difference in her life and if I do get her online what websites, chat sites and forums (Other than the one I'm on) do I recommend her to go to that will hopefully help her through her current situation?
On a separate topic I'm also not very good with sign language and lip reading as I've never used it but would like to learn in my spare time. My only deaf friend doesn't like sign language but is an awesome lip reader.
I'm a South African living in the wild urban jungles of Gauteng. I'm not deaf but I have a deaf friend, one of my closest and oldest friends has a blind and deaf brother and last week I met a deaf woman who seems intelligent but is unemployed, living on a disability grant and struggling to find work. To make things worse she has an old computer with no internet access and a phone that can only make phone calls and SMS.
I can't imagine life without internet access, I'm sure it must be worse for the deaf or am I mistaken? It must be awful for her not being able to look for work online or chat with people - there's no way she can afford to SMS all day (We're charged per SMS here.)
While I do make decent money I can't afford to go out and buy her all these things she needs but I can hopefully make a difference. I already stocked her house up with food last weekend. I have managed to arrange for a phone that can use whatsapp but needs a charger; as well as a 3G modem but it needs a SIM which is a problem as internet access is also expensive here. What I do want to know is am I going the right path by focusing on getting her connected? Will it make a big difference in her life and if I do get her online what websites, chat sites and forums (Other than the one I'm on) do I recommend her to go to that will hopefully help her through her current situation?
On a separate topic I'm also not very good with sign language and lip reading as I've never used it but would like to learn in my spare time. My only deaf friend doesn't like sign language but is an awesome lip reader.