Vocational training for young deaf people in Ethiopia

06 July 2004

Country:

Ethiopia

Organisations involved:

Ethiopian National Association for the Deaf (Member of the World Federation of the Deaf)
Alpha School for the Deaf
Betefikir Kindergarten, Addis Ababa
Solidarity Fund for Ethiopian Women (SFEW)

Synopsis:

I have dedicated a large portion of my professional life trying to understand how misconceptions about the deaf in Ethiopia have arisen and more importantly, what could be done to overcome them. These misconceptions, include, for example the common belief in Ethiopia that deaf people are ignorant, lazy or have learning difficulties and also a belief that deafness is linked to a form of evil possession. My research involved discussions, long periods of observation, interviews with parents, teachers and with national organizations and NGO’s as well as feedback obtained from news paper exposure from interviews which I gave to national news agencies.

My link with the Alpha School came about through my contact with a member of staff at the school who also taught me Ethiopian sign language. The Alpha School for the Deaf is a kindergarten and primary school and only caters for children up to 8th grade. I noticed how a number of children would try to stay in the school environment for as long as possible and noted that this was because secondary educational opportunities for deaf children are limited. There is no specialist secondary school for the deaf and limited support is provided for deaf children studying in mainstream schools.

Some time ago, the Alpha School had a vocational training workshop where the children could learn carpentry, metal work and embroidery. The proceeds from the sale of items produced in the workshop went towards the purchase of new materials and the maintenance of the machinery. The children trained in this centre often learnt to produce quality work and could easily find jobs after they graduated although no certification or diploma was issued. This workshop fell into disuse because the local support framework was inadequate.

The idea for the project in Swedish massage therapy came to me in India, where I was inspired by my studies in Beauty Culture and hair dressing. I heard about a beauty school for the hearing impaired.

Financial short comings had initially prevented me from opening a full-fledged beauty school, but I was nevertheless able to teach a small number of young deaf people a vocation which was in-line with our initial objectives and less costly. In co-operation with the Ethiopian National Association of the Deaf and the Alpha School, I selected students who had graduated from the Alpha school for the deaf as well as from the local orphanage NGO, Dorcas International.

I was particularly keen to train students that had the ability to train others. Through my links with Ethiopian National Association for the Deaf I was able to engage interpreters. Luckily, my parents own and administer a kindergarten in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) called Betefikir Kindergarten. They generously made one class room available for me where I could teach Swedish massage therapy 3 days a week.

Over the course of eight months, seven students graduated as qualified massage therapists. Several of them are now better positioned to find employment with hotels or beauty salons and beauty schools there by enabling them to earn a regular income through self-employment.

Update in 2006
Following the success of my vocational training in massage therapy, I decided to pursue the development of a broader range of vocational training activities. From work in Geneva, I managed to raise funds in Geneva to organize a one-day workshop in Addis Ababa.

I returned to Addis Ababa on the 18th of July 2004 and organized the
workshop at the Alpha School for the Deaf. I invited all the parents &
guardians of the children, the national press (national Ethiopian
television, news paper, and radio) as well as local and international NGOs.

Topics of discussions included:

Problems facing the deaf community in Addis Ababa
The need to develop and teach sign language to those associated with deaf
children and the importance of involvement of parents & guardians in this
endeavour
The education of deaf children primarily in the fields of vocational
training. This lead to discussions on how and when to open the existing
vocational training centre in the school which had until now been out of use
due to lack of funding.

The success of the workshop was transmitted on national television and radio
thereby creating more awareness to the wider community.

Among the NGO’s who were invited to the workshop was a Geneva based
organization called “ Solidarity Fund for Ethiopian Women (SFEW)”. They had
asked me to prepare a project proposal for the re-opening of the vocational
centre at the school. It is thanks to their help that I was able to obtain
half of the funds needed to partially reopen the vocation canter at the
school in May of 2005.

The funds enable me to

To buy new machines and repair the old ones for the wood work department,
To buy the raw materials for one full year for the same dept.
To buy new machine for making sweaters, bed covers, and scarf’s etc. raw
materials for one year.
To buy two new sewing machines and as well as raw materials for one year for the embroidery dept.

As a result of our combined efforts between 70-90 students each year will
benefit from the training sessions as well as the sales receipts from the
products they will make from these departments. Some of these products
include, drawers, beds, cupboards, doors windows, bed covers, sweaters,
tablecloth all of which will be sold and the proceeds will be used to re
purchase raw materials and pay the staff and it will continue to maintain
the training.

Issues encountered:

Through my work with deaf children, I have noted a number of key issues confronting deaf children, which although not all directly related with this project, it may be useful to mention here.

Teachers lack the special skills required to teach deaf children. Some teachers, although graduates of the teacher training institution have no or very little special skills in the teaching of deaf children.
Expectation gaps. There is a considerable gap between the desires and expectations of able-bodied parents and teachers of deaf children and the actual needs of the deaf children. This is mainly evident in the communication difficulties between parents and children, which often results in the children showing a lack of concentration, isolation, attention deficit disorders, hyper activity, aggressiveness, as well as emotional outbursts at home and at school.
Funding needs prohibit comprehensive education. It was lack of funding which led to the closure of the vocational training centre at the Alpha school
External factors such as distance and hunger add undue pressure on the students. The children live with their parents and guardians and have to travel long distances in order to attend classes often without regular meals. At present my husband and myself alone bear the cost of ensuring one decent meal a day per child regardless of where they come from in order to appease the issue of hunger. A hungry child cannot be expected to pay attention in class.
Lack of coordinated planning - For example audiological testing equipment is sometimes provided but not hearing aids.

In order to resolve some of these issues, I concluded that the following are key factors for success :

Sign language training: New funds must be made available to enable classes to take place where sign is taught as part of the normal curriculum to teachers, students and parents.
Study / Plan of action: A study into the needs of deaf children needs to be undertaken and any funding body should establish a coordinated action plan.
Awareness: The situation of deaf children in Ethiopia must be brought closer to the heart of the concerns of Ethiopian society. The school should be engaged in other activities, which help promote its cause as oppose to hiding it. The Ethiopian public must have the notion of deafness demystified. They must be made aware of the enormous potential of these children in being strong, contributing members of society. This could be done by organising high profile “deaf awareness days” where prominent citizens, members of the press and members of government are involved in activities with deaf children and their parents, as well as adults and others.

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