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Manad fights myths: Sex with deaf person doesn
JULIANA Mwase is a professional accountant at Malawi Against Polio. She is deaf. Outside of her day job, Mwase acts as chairperson of Malawi National Association of the Deaf (Manad). As Manad chairperson, she counsels and leads members in the fight against deaf stereotypes and myths.
And out of ignorance, there’s a belief among some people, for example, that sleeping with a deaf woman cures a man of HIV and Aids!
According to the World Federation for the Deaf, the majority of people who are deaf live in developing countries where they face adverse social, political and economic conditions, as well as traditional social conditions. With limited access to germane education, employment and information, the odds are stuck against the deaf the majority of whom are poor. As of 2004, Malawi had at least 160,000 deaf citizens, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) survey.
Manad was established in 1997 to encourage and promote the educational, economical, and social welfare of the deaf in Malawi. The organization’s membership stands at 2,500 – 48% percent of are women – with members displaying a range of speaking and hearing ability.
While Manad’s scope is versatile, one key priority is lobbying for the recognition of the sign language as the official means of communication for the deaf. Although the process of amending the Disability Policy will take time, Manad is taking action wherever possible in the interim.
“We are training hospital staff, teachers in public schools, bank staff, the basics in sign language so that the deaf can be assisted wherever they seek a service,” said Mwase, adding that Manad had forged a working partnership with the Malawi Government and other international organizations in the effort.
Education is another challenge for the deaf population. There’re five deaf schools in Malawi – all were established by missionaries. A lack of special needs education for deaf students has resulted in a high level of illiteracy among the deaf. Without an education, Mwase notes, the deaf aren’t able to fulfill civic duties.
“They are unable to report crime; the general feeling is that the deaf are always expensive to cater for…have you seen the Disability Policy? It's a paragraph with four lines and it is supposed to deal with all the problems that all the disabled face, no matter how unique their disability is. It does very, very little for the deaf,” said Mwase.
Speaking through a Manad-trained translator, Mwase said that the vague disability policy also poses challenges for raising awareness in the deaf community about problems such as HIV and Aids. Notably, a Manad survey conducted in 2008 found that out of 375 deaf people sampled across the country, 47 percent said they weren’t aware of HIV/Aids!
“Nothing is being communicated to the deaf,” said Mwase.
Without awareness, how does one then expect deaf individuals to protect themselves from those who may target them, thinking by having sex with them, they could get cured of their HIV status or Aids?
Mwase also pointed that there was need for “sign language translation on national television.”
In February 2011, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (through the Ambassador’s Small Grants Fund for HIV/AIDS) awarded Manad $6,000 to promote HIV/Aids awareness through production of posters that the deaf can read and understand.
The funding was also used to train medical personnel in sign language to ease communication with the deaf. Manad’s project hopes to reach at least 3, 000 deaf citizens in Malawi. Manad beat 487 other applications that were reviewed during the 2010 Ambassador’s HIV/Aids Small Grant Program funding cycle. Altogether, 12 projects (two of which benefited the deaf community) were funded with a total of $69, 500. (The average grant size per was $5,800 per project.)
During a September visit to the Manad office in Blantyre, U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Jeanine Jackson was briefed on challenges the deaf face in the country. Ambassador Jackson was pleased to note that medical personnel had learned sign language and were able to communicate life-saving information to deaf patients
JULIANA Mwase is a professional accountant at Malawi Against Polio. She is deaf. Outside of her day job, Mwase acts as chairperson of Malawi National Association of the Deaf (Manad). As Manad chairperson, she counsels and leads members in the fight against deaf stereotypes and myths.
And out of ignorance, there’s a belief among some people, for example, that sleeping with a deaf woman cures a man of HIV and Aids!
According to the World Federation for the Deaf, the majority of people who are deaf live in developing countries where they face adverse social, political and economic conditions, as well as traditional social conditions. With limited access to germane education, employment and information, the odds are stuck against the deaf the majority of whom are poor. As of 2004, Malawi had at least 160,000 deaf citizens, according to an International Labor Organization (ILO) survey.
Manad was established in 1997 to encourage and promote the educational, economical, and social welfare of the deaf in Malawi. The organization’s membership stands at 2,500 – 48% percent of are women – with members displaying a range of speaking and hearing ability.
While Manad’s scope is versatile, one key priority is lobbying for the recognition of the sign language as the official means of communication for the deaf. Although the process of amending the Disability Policy will take time, Manad is taking action wherever possible in the interim.
“We are training hospital staff, teachers in public schools, bank staff, the basics in sign language so that the deaf can be assisted wherever they seek a service,” said Mwase, adding that Manad had forged a working partnership with the Malawi Government and other international organizations in the effort.
Education is another challenge for the deaf population. There’re five deaf schools in Malawi – all were established by missionaries. A lack of special needs education for deaf students has resulted in a high level of illiteracy among the deaf. Without an education, Mwase notes, the deaf aren’t able to fulfill civic duties.
“They are unable to report crime; the general feeling is that the deaf are always expensive to cater for…have you seen the Disability Policy? It's a paragraph with four lines and it is supposed to deal with all the problems that all the disabled face, no matter how unique their disability is. It does very, very little for the deaf,” said Mwase.
Speaking through a Manad-trained translator, Mwase said that the vague disability policy also poses challenges for raising awareness in the deaf community about problems such as HIV and Aids. Notably, a Manad survey conducted in 2008 found that out of 375 deaf people sampled across the country, 47 percent said they weren’t aware of HIV/Aids!
“Nothing is being communicated to the deaf,” said Mwase.
Without awareness, how does one then expect deaf individuals to protect themselves from those who may target them, thinking by having sex with them, they could get cured of their HIV status or Aids?
Mwase also pointed that there was need for “sign language translation on national television.”
In February 2011, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (through the Ambassador’s Small Grants Fund for HIV/AIDS) awarded Manad $6,000 to promote HIV/Aids awareness through production of posters that the deaf can read and understand.
The funding was also used to train medical personnel in sign language to ease communication with the deaf. Manad’s project hopes to reach at least 3, 000 deaf citizens in Malawi. Manad beat 487 other applications that were reviewed during the 2010 Ambassador’s HIV/Aids Small Grant Program funding cycle. Altogether, 12 projects (two of which benefited the deaf community) were funded with a total of $69, 500. (The average grant size per was $5,800 per project.)
During a September visit to the Manad office in Blantyre, U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Jeanine Jackson was briefed on challenges the deaf face in the country. Ambassador Jackson was pleased to note that medical personnel had learned sign language and were able to communicate life-saving information to deaf patients
