Ephphitha! Be Open!

I had probably one of my best experiences facilitating here today. I had been invited to speak to the interpreters and then the Deaf Community about the code of ethics and role of interpreters. Sadly, with only three interpreters in town, one was working upcountry and the other two had been called to a meeting. That left me without interpreters to train or to interpret for me. I proceeded anyway and did a lot of role playing with the Deaf participants. We had a hoot!! Lots of laughter sprinkled in with the “Aha!” moments. We talked about positioning and I watched as they understood why interpreters need to stand or sit in a particular place. We talked about neutrality and confidentiality. I can be quite an actress at times and today was not quite worth an Oscar but still there were shining moments.
Afterwards I was able to visit a sewing workshop (Atelier de Couture) where Deaf women create and sell clothes (see above photo).

From there we went to the Ecole Ephphatha Pour Les Sourdes (the Deaf School whose name is based on the bible reading where Jesus says “Be opened!” and the Deaf man can hear) which is a primary school in Bujumbura. There is no secondary school in the country. As I toured the facility, I saw that in Grades 1-3 there were large numbers of students but by Grade 6, the numbers decreased. In this residential school, of the 130 students, 107 of them stay at the school full-time, as they live too far to travel every day. Most families cannot afford to pay the school fees for six years. The teachers are all hearing, except for the woman in the Home Ec class (for older students who come back for the one class. The teachers receive no salaries by the state—only through an NGO that donates funds. The director, a hearing woman who has worked there for 18 years, shared with me how difficult it is to feed all the children and how much food is required while there is little aid to purchase food. The children look very happy though as you can see in the photo. They only wear uniforms in the first few grades.
The children greeted me warmly and all tried to use my name sign very quickly, competing with each other to see who could do it best. They were incredibly polite and wanted me to return soon—an impossible task, of course, since I leave on Saturday. The school was started by an African American who set up several schools for the Deaf in Africa before he died in a plane crash.
The school itself is located in what was a stronghold for the rebels during the war. Fabien explained that the whole area was surrounded and great violence had in the location. Hard to believe when you see the school which is like a sanctuary in the city, with lots of green space and flowers. The school does have lots of needs, including mosquito nets that are old and torn, so that the children do not get malaria. Anyone interested in helping out?