Samoa Empowerment for Children who are deaf and their families
The Loto Taumafai Society for the disabled will develop a home-based support programme for deaf children and their families in five districts.
- Recipient:
- Loto Taumafai Society For People with Disabilities- Early Intervention Deaf Program
- Country:
- Samoa (Western)
- Implementing partner:
- Christoffel BlindenMission e.V.
- Project contact:
-
Elvera Lam (Loto Taumafai Society For People with Disabilities- Early Intervention Deaf Program)
- Start date:
- 14 February 2005
- End date:
- 13 February 2006
- Total budget:
- 51,500.00 WST (�10,279.44)
- Beneficiary type:
- Parents, School aged children, Pre-school aged children
- Project type:
- Parents' group, Advocacy, Lobbying, Community based rehabilitation
Summary:
The Loto Taumafai Society for the disabled will develop a home-based support programme for deaf children and their families in five districts on the two largest islands of Samoa. The project will recruit and train field workers who will make weekly visits to 40 individual families. Two parent support groups will also be established to further lobbying activities. The expected outcome is that the inclusion of deaf children in their communities (eg preschools, schools, churches, self-help groups) will be increased. It is also hoped that the government would take responsiblity for the support programme after the SGP funding has finished.
Samoa Early Intervention Programme: Explained
Aim:
The project aims to empower deaf children, their families and the community to improve inclusive practices and access for people who are deaf, through the development of appropriate language and communication systems. This program is completely new for Samoa and is filling an unmet need by providing community based support reaching to isolated rural villages.
Beneficiaries:
The project will aim to work with at least 40 deaf children (0-25 years) and their families in five districts in Samoa. There will be particular emphasis on the age group 0-7 years, but older people who are deaf up to 25 years of age and their families will be supported. The districts to be targeted will consist of one urban and four rural areas including the other major island of Savaii.
Activities:
- Activity 1: Recruit and train fieldworkers
4 fieldworkers, two deaf and two hearing will be recruited and will be trained in: deafness issues with families, values and attitudes towards deafness, barriers to community involvement and problem solving solutions to these barriers, techniques to support families and children, group facilitation techniques, lobbying and advocacy strategies relating to human rights.
- Activity 2: Fieldworkers to undertake weekly / fortnightly support visits to 40 families
Upon identification each family will be offered a block of intensive support followed by regular home visits. During these visits the aim is to provide information about deafness, improve communication skills, increase family and community awareness of the deaf child's needs and support inclusion and appropriate support in school.
- Activity 3: Six parents' support meetings in each district
The parents will discuss communication techniques, access to education, causes of hearing impairment and deafness, parenting issues and techniques, deaf issues such as employment, marriage, literacy and culture. They will also meet positive role models of deaf adults. Smaller weekly or fortnightly village meetings may be organized dependant on needs analysis.
- Activity 4: Two stakeholder meetings
These aim to achieve shared commitment, effective networking, and built-in sustainability for the project. It is hoped that the Ministry of Education will further refine their "Education for All" yearly action plan, with specific strategies to ensure their ongoing commitment to support the deaf especially through early intervention.
Achievements:
This project is now successfully completed.
The fieldworkers have been recruited and trained and parents and families have responded positively to the project. Parents have expressed an interest in starting a society of their own to voice their opinions to the government.
Recruitment and training of fieldworkers
- Two deaf and two hearing fieldworkers, one of whom is a parent of a deaf child, were recruited at the beginning of the project.
Volunteer with expertise in childhood deafness
- The recruitment process for the volunteer with deaf expertise delayed the staff training. An Australian teacher of the deaf started work in July and has been able to offer a lot of support to fieldworkers.
- Resources for the fieldworkers to use with families have also been developed.
- More training in Savaii is required and a US peace corps volunteer who is a speech therapist / audiologist (also fluent in Sign Language) will be offering voluntary support to the project in this area.
Staff training
Two 6 week intensive training periods have been carried out (one in January 2005 and the second in January 2006). In between these periods, staff were able to seek advise and regular training fromt he staff advisor.
The second training course included:
- interpreter training
- vocabulary development and SL grammar
- teaching skills to support SL, numeracy and literacy development
- a module on speech development and assessment was conducted by the Peacecorp Speech Therapist volunteer
- sexual health issues
General Early Intervention (GEI) fieldworkers also participated in the training course. They benefited hugely and were able to build on their knowledge of deafness as well as SL communication skills.
Additional training in group facilitation techniques was also provided in April 2006 by a GEI fieldworker. Training in Human Rights, which was funded by Ausaid, was also provided in June 2006.
Weekly home visits
Fortnightly / weekly home visits have been made to 33 families. A lack of transport has constrained the extent to which support can be offered, but fieldworkers are:
- supporting family communication
- providing information about deafness
- providing information / support about educational opportunities
- raising community awareness.
Parent support group meetings
- Three parent group meeting have been held, with around 10 families attending each.
- Parent group meetings for parents of children with disabilities will continue to take place and address issues relating to deafness when appropriate.
Stakeholder meetings
- 1 stakeholder meeting has been organised. It was attended by the Ministry of Education, The National Coordinator for "Education for All", Community Health Nurses, church leaders, parents CBOs, NGOs etc. The National "Education for All" coordinator gave a commitment to offering ongoing support for the programme.
- Sign Language classes have taken place in both islands. Approximately 20 people attended classes every week.
- M&E activities have been prioritised and individual family records are being kept in a database, photographic diaries and case studies have been gathered.
