00:00At this pharmacy in Abidjan, Gildas, a carpenter, has come to get medication for a stomach ache.
00:07But having been deaf since the age of four, he can only mime his pain to make himself understood.
00:13His gestures are met with confusion from the pharmacist, and he video calls his interpreter.
00:19With his help, it takes just one minute for Gildas to be understood and treated.
00:24Situations like these are a daily struggle for many deaf people.
00:30Seeing a doctor is difficult. They ask questions about the body, the illness and the pain, but the doctor doesn't
00:36understand.
00:37When there is an interpreter to help and explain, the doctor can understand, and the interpreter can translate for the
00:43deaf person.
00:45For the past year, the psychologist and interpreter Israel Manzaret has become a voice for those with hearing loss in
00:52Côte d'Ivoire.
00:56I realize that as human beings, we all need to be understood and to express what we need.
01:02Unfortunately, our deaf and hard-of-hearing brothers and sisters struggle to make themselves understood.
01:09Sign language is a well-developed language with vocabulary, grammar and spelling, allowing them to express their needs.
01:20Gildas is one of some 75,000 people living with hearing loss in Côte d'Ivoire.
01:26Many struggle with daily tasks, in particular administrative and medical dealings, due to a severe shortage of interpreters around the
01:34country.
01:34In the Abobo district, at this association for those with hearing loss with around 100 members, everyone tries to express
01:42their frustrations.
01:45At the Abobo prosecutor's office, a deaf person was given a name that was not his. He was a student.
01:51When his statement was being recorded, there was no interpreter, so people could not understand what he was saying.
01:58You can see how this discourages them from using public services.
02:01For these people to feel included in society, the Ivorian government needs to recognize interpreters in all its initiatives and
02:09development programs.
02:12Although the road is long before Côte d'Ivoire becomes a fully inclusive country, deaf citizens continue to dream of
02:18a society where silence will no longer be a barrier.
02:21How this is their семotyled.
02:23If you интересно, I know.
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