27.07.2020

United against Covid-19: Inclusion of deaf people

How do you protect yourself and others from the corona virus? The Baptist Church in Central Africa (CBCA) explains this for the first time in an educational video in French sign language. The idea for this YouTube video came from Hulda Vagheni, who is responsible for the CBCA's press and public relations work.

Vagheni is particularly concerned about the inclusion of deaf people. Therefore, she learned French sign language at the age of 19 - while still at school - and later studied communication sciences in Beni and Kampala. Information and communication channels of deaf people is the topic of her final thesis.

Communication in sign language is the most important source of information besides the written word. "Deaf people have a hard time reading people's lips in times of Corona. The compulsory wearing of masks makes lip-reading impossible. This is a big problem for deaf people," says Hulda Vagheni. The idea was born to produce an educational video about Covid-19 in French sign language to familiarize this population group with the protective measures against Covid-19. She herself translates in the video into French sign language, which only resembles German sign language in some vocabulary, but the content is easy to understand with some imagination - even without knowledge of French.

The CBCA is a member church of UEM and runs, among other things, the training centre CEDIAR (Centre Diaconie Rohland) in the city of Butembo. Here young people with disabilities, including the deaf, learn a trade and are prepared to cope with everyday life in order to lead an independent life.

More YouTube videos from the church life of the CBCA can be watched here.

Corona Task Force