Foundation honours its heroes

Nolan Pillay, the founder of Be the Best Version of Yourself Foundation, along with Miss, Mr and Mrs Deaf South Africa (MDSA) recently appreciated their sponsors and supporters at an intimate event held at the Benoni Lake Club.

Miss, Mr and Mrs Deaf South Africa 2022 titleholders were in attendance with their friends and family members.

Speaking to attendees, Pillay thanked guests for being part of their journey this year.

Pillay shared that he and his team, including seven deaf climbers, summited the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, in August. They raised funds for MDSA and the Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss in Southern Africa.

“Through our initiative, two children have been given the gift of hearing through the sponsorship of hearing aids.

“Although we wanted to reach out to more children because the hearing aids are expensive, we managed to sponsor two children. We have partnered with deaf people so that hearing people can understand and experience the challenges faced by deaf people,” Pillay said.

To bridge the gap between the hearing and deaf communities, Pillay said they have started a hiking event which has so far been held in Johannesburg and will in future be held in other towns as well.

MDSA CEO Janice Jonker thanked all the sponsors who made the MDSA crowning evening on September 3 a success. She said MDSA aims to help create deaf awareness within a hearing community.

“We are so much more than just a beauty pageant. Our pageant aims to improve the self-esteem of deaf people in South Africa and to help them develop skills,” said Jonker.

Another speaker, Raymond Jonker, shared his experience of climbing Kilimanjaro.

Attendees also learned a thing or two about the deaf culture.

Jonker and André Chetty of the MDSA management team explained that the deaf culture uses sign languages as the main means of communication or with lipreading.

Within the deaf culture, some behaviours are considered rude but are perfectly acceptable in hearing culture.
• Eye contact is extremely important. Avoiding eye contact can be seen as rude and looking away while someone is signing to you is a no-no.
• In deaf culture is acceptable to touch another person to gain their attention even if you don’t know them well. However, there are rules about where or how to touch it. A light touch on the arm or shoulder is acceptable.
• Deaf people sit or stand further apart and preferably opposite each other to see each other’s ‘signing space’ comfortably.
Tips on how to communicate with deaf people:
• Talk clearly and do not speak too slowly.
• Face the deaf person when you talk to them. They need to see your lips to lipread.
• There will be a possibility that they will misunderstand you because some lip movement looks the same.
• Do not be afraid to talk to them.
• Use your body language as well when you communicate with them.
• Speak in simple language and don’t talk for too long.

Also Read: WATCH: Farrarmere resident will again conquer Kilimanjaro for a great cause

Also Read: Conquering Kilimanjaro with a purpose