FEATURE | A Silent Workshop: Of Inclusion & Empathy
By Bibhudutta Sahu
SHILLONG | June 9, 2019:
For a person without disability attending a workshop, today was a situation of role-reversal and a humbling experience in patience and empathy being the minority in a meeting. For all persons without disability, sound and the spoken language play a critical role in communication. So it was quite a challenge for me to attend a lively, interactive yet silent workshop, apart from the occasional peals of laughter. Yes, you heard me right, it was silent! It was silent for the very simple reason that it was a One Day Workshop on Deaf Empowerment that was co-organized by Meghalaya Deaf Association (MDA) & Barefoot Trust on the 25th of May 2019 at the Asian Confluence, Shillong. It was a pleasure watching the flurry of hand movements accentuated with the facial expressions, emotions and the confounding realization that one could not understand a word as we were not part of this world.
The program was facilitated by Access Mantra from New Delhi, an organization that aims to create an environment full of innovative possibilities and solutions, advocating for equality, opportunities and access services for the Deaf community in compliance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016. As organizations, we conduct thousands of workshops, seminars and programs that use a medium that, by virtue of the process, exclude and discourage many persons with hearing impairment from attending and participating in the programs. The nuances of sign language is a matter of amazement in the world of hearing impairment and changes from region to region just like any other language.
ALSO READ | Manipur youth inducted into FB 'Hall of Fame' for discovering WhatsApp bug
The Access Mantra team comprising of Amaldev P.R & Charu Narang enthralled the 41 participants from the different districts of Meghalaya on topics that are relevant and resonate such as women empowerment, emphasizing the stigma attached to periods, going out alone, holding positions of leadership from the perspective of the deaf community etc. Delving into the issues of leadership, it was quite evident that there is much potential in the community that has to be realized through job opportunities, exposures and entrepreneurship and receiving the necessary support from institutions and individuals.
Mr Ferdinand Marshillong, President, MDA welcomed all the participants to the workshop. It was a presentation packed program interspersed with anecdotes that were impulsive and uninhibited. The larger issues of making the world accessible in terms of media, technology and decision making in their personal and professional lives are important markers of change and inclusion.
ALSO READ | FEATURE | Slow Food Movement: Bringing communities together
The workshop concluded with the Planning meeting for the North East Conference 2019 for the Deaf that will witness a completely new format and approach to the conferences as well as fresh collaborations and opportunities.
ALSO READ | Origin & Migration of Khasi people: Out of Africa & in our Genes
"The participants have identified the challenges and positives of staying here in the region. There is a dearth of job opportunities and discrimination and the participants are facing personal problems which are difficult to solve. Empowerment of the deaf community means they are treated on par with those without disability. The participants are smart and full of potential as leaders but because of the communication barrier, are unable to reach their complete potential. There is a need to ensure accessibility" (Charu Narang, Resource Person, Access Mantra). Truer words have never been spoken wherein barriers of language and sound have restricted the progress of the persons with hearing impairment. There is much to be done for and by the deaf community. And each and every one of us has a role to play in bringing about inclusion.
(The writer is the Managing Trustee of Barefoot Trust. He can be reached at barefoot.trust@gmail.com)
