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From
The Standard in Kenya:
Rolling his round, innocent eyes, baby Jimmy Boss scans the crowd, soaking in his surroundings without a murmur. He does so with minimum movement then rests peacefully in his mother’s arms.
Boss does not respond when his name is called out. It takes five long minutes for the boy to acknowledge his name and warm up to the adult holding her.
Boss is eight months old and in his short life, he has learnt that crying rarely elicits any attention. His mother, Hannah Wanjiku (pictured), 26, is deaf and cannot communicate with her son. The two live in Wanyee, an informal settlement in Nairobi.
Speaking through interpreter Wangari Mwangi, Wanjiku says parenting is extremely difficult.
"Since I cannot hear my baby cry, I sleep with my hand on him all night. If he cries, his sobs would rack his body and produce vibrations which warn me about his discomfort," Wanjiku explains before concluding sadly:
"Of course it is not easy trying to calm a crying baby without talking to her."
Wanjiku says there were times when her baby would cry for long hours before she realised it. That’s when learnt to use her hand to monitor him when was sleeping.
Life, generally, has not been easy for Wanjiku since she was born in Kanjai village in Githunguri in Kiambu, to two hearing parents. It took a while before they realised their daughter could not hear.
After eight difficult years in primary school, Wanjiku was admitted at the Kambui School for the Deaf for her secondary education. "I wanted to study hard and become a nurse. I thought I could help my society by attending to the sick, but this was not to be. I was forced to drop out of school in Form Two due to lack of school fees," Wanjiku says.
Wanjiku moved in with sympathetic friends who would occasionally pay her for washing their clothes.
"Life is for any Kenyan youth is hard, even those with secondary education struggle to secure jobs. For a school dropout with hearing difficulties, life is extremely hard. You cannot communicate easily," Wanjiku laments.
Wanjiku got married but five years and one child later, she called it quits after she and her common law husband parted ways. "I stay in a single room whose rent is Sh2,500. Feeding my baby boy is a nightmare, as society has no jobs for persons like me. My friends have been wonderful and very supportive," Wanjiku adds.
Joseph Mburu, 38, is another deaf person we encounter at the All Saints Cathedral.
Mburu traces his tribulations to a sickness that struck when he was a young and left him without hearing. Mburu married in 1991 and has three children. Besides selling water, he is a pastor, after having trained at the Limuru Baptist Theological College.
"I preach to the deaf and I do not have many challenges as we can communicate perfectly. Communicating with the hearing public is very difficult. It is also very difficult for two deaf people to talk intimately," Mburu adds.
According to the pastor, most Government institutions, especially in hospitals, banks, shops and hotels and police stations do not have experts in sign language, making it very difficult for the deaf to access services.
"I find it demeaning that every time a deaf person has to go to hospital, he or she must be accompanied by an interpreter. Communicating your needs is very difficult through another person," the pastor says.
Mburu, whose wife is also deaf, says the couple has difficulties communicating with their two daughters and a son, who are able to hear.
We experienced first-hand the difficulties in accessing services by the deaf. In the course of the interview conducted in a cafe, it took the attendants about 15 minutes to figure out what sodas five of their deaf clients needed. There was confusion describing the various flavours of Fanta and the sign language to use for each beverage brand.
"Because of such problems the deaf tend to stay away from hotels and shops. Supermarkets are more useful than shops as items are on display. The deaf are very self-conscious as they draw attention every time they express themselves.
Getting the correct change or item is very difficult. That is why they go to persons who understand their needs," Wangari explained.
From The Standard in Kenya:
