Training leaders in Zimbabwe's Deaf Community

Sexual reproductive Health rights and issues of gender-based violence have been a current topic in the development circles, particularly focusing on youth. Posters and pamphlets are shared, community talks are held, but the Deaf are still left out. Community discussion platforms, radio and television campaigns are often not delivered in formats accessible to deaf communities.

16 Deaf leaders from various districts in Manicaland, have been training as mentors and SRH Champions to share information and promote healthy and positive lifestyles among the deaf in their communities. This September, the Mentors got together with Nzeve staff members to review how things are going.

The mentors visited 6 schools in Manicaland reaching 109 deaf learners with information on Sexual Reproductive Health. The team met to review the resources and methods of delivery they have been using to share information.

“Many young deaf people struggle because their parents do not have sign language and cannot share information with them, but the pictures and games help them understand.”

These platforms enable the deaf to discuss the issues that affect them and identify best practices to address them. The leaders work closely with parent mentors to improve communication and promote healthier lives for deaf children.

4 Deaf leaders from Nzeve community recently participated in the National By-elections to fill the vacancy of Senator to represent people with disabilities and vote in a new senator. Deaf persons are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to decision making platforms at national level, because of the communication barriers their disability presents.

There are still huge gaps in information sharing to equip the deaf community on matters of how government systems operate, but the participation of the 4 representatives takes us a step forward. Their insights and feedback on the processes help us become more aware of what works, what doesn’t work and what we can do different.

The participants shared their perspectives and how they felt about the whole experience. “It was good to be involved,” shared one of the participants, “But there are still gaps in the understanding of how to include Deaf people; Many Deaf people are not aware of how these systems work and this limits their participation and their ability to raise awareness about their own needs."

"Our participation is important"

The Deaf leaders will feed back on their experience at their club meetings where the Deaf community regularly meet for social engagement and information sharing.