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  • 2 months ago
The Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired is advocating for assistance from the Ministry of Education to get people who are deaf past the primary school level of education.

It was mentioned as TTAHI hosted a Mini Health Fair, where products from some of the Association's deaf entrepreneurs were also on display.

Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00This year, International Deaf Awareness Week is being celebrated under the theme
00:04No Human Rights Without Sign Language Rights.
00:08In celebration of this, the Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired
00:11launched a week of activities seeking to educate and sensitize people on the deaf and hearing impaired.
00:18General Manager of Tahi Jamila Jurepa says it began with the association's deaf staff members
00:23through a mini-video series called The Deaf Experience on Monday,
00:26followed by a walk-a-thon on Tuesday and an introductory level course to sign language on Thursday for members of the public.
00:34And then today we are ending the week with our mini-expo, mini-health fair,
00:39where we are also showcasing our deaf entrepreneurs who are here with us in some of the booths,
00:45showcasing some of their products and services as well.
00:48So give me an idea of some of the products and services from these deaf entrepreneurs.
00:52So from some of our deaf entrepreneurs, we have persons who do food items,
00:56so there is fresh, cold coconut water, we have banana bread,
01:01we have some of the entrepreneurs who do plants,
01:04we also have some who do handicraft, t-shirts, sprinting, that type of thing.
01:09So those are some of our deaf entrepreneurs here with us today.
01:11Four deaf entrepreneurs to be exact.
01:14They joined five other entrepreneurs,
01:17non-profit, government and corporate booths, including the Diabetes Association,
01:22and the Disaster Management Unit of the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Governments.
01:28The DMU in particular this year, we have started a partnership with them
01:32where they are offering free of charge, once a month,
01:36a two-hour snapshots, I would say, training on disaster preparedness, emergency,
01:43CPR, and first aid for members of the deaf and hard of hearing community.
01:49So that is the relationship that we have with them.
01:51So we invited them here today just to do that same thing for persons who would have been here.
01:56Tahi has a membership of around 390 members at this time,
02:00and membership is open to anyone who feels moved to assist people
02:04among this vulnerable group in one way or another.
02:07And as talks continue around social inclusion and equal opportunity,
02:12Tahi tries to aid in the area of creating employment
02:15with a ratio of about 60% hearing staff members
02:19and 40% hearing-impaired or deaf staff members.
02:23One of the things that we are trying to advocate for is to show people
02:27and to let people know that really and truly the only thing a deaf person cannot do is hear.
02:33Education is another issue,
02:34as the two schools available only provide a primary level of education.
02:39So we are working with Ministry of Education,
02:43specifically through their student support services,
02:46to assist those students who go on to tertiary level,
02:49who go on to secondary level and then tertiary level,
02:51so that they can get a well-rounded education.
02:53So that is for a student who cannot hear at all.
02:56They require an in-classroom aid to assist them
03:00to be able to translate what is being taught in the classroom into sign language
03:05so that they can understand.
03:07That has been an issue.
03:09And so the opportunity divide widens
03:11between families who have the ability to get an aid and those who cannot.
03:16Draper also believes more can be done within the wider corporate sector
03:20as it pertains to employment of the deaf and hearing impaired,
03:23and she has a message for employers.
03:26Reach out to us if it is you would like us to help you with your staff,
03:30training your staff in sign language,
03:32so that you would then be able to treat better with members of the public
03:36who come in who may be deaf or hard of hearing.
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