Buy a sticker in support – TalkSign campaign launched in Durban
Buy a sticker to support the fundraiser or join a class to learn sign language and make a difference in the Deaf Community.
THE KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society launched its annual TalkSign campaign at its offices in central Durban on Wednesday, February 1. The initiative was born in 2013 with the aim of highlighting the importance of Sign Language for deaf people in all aspects of their lives. As part of the campaign, the Society sells promotional stickers for R10 to raise funds, and this year, they have added promotional rulers to the campaign.
“[Sign Language] is a visual-gestural language with its own grammatical structures – very different to oral languages that the hearing world is familiar with – and it is important for everyone to understand this, to try to learn it and to promote its use,” said the Society in a statement.
Through the years since the inception of TalkSign, the Society has been invited to several schools, hospitals, government departments and corporates to share presentations on Deaf Awareness issues.
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“This year, we have introduced our message of TalkSign on rulers and are appealing to everyone to purchase these rulers. We are also requesting businesses to invite us so that we may have the opportunity to enlighten you and your staff on Deaf Awareness. At the same time, you may help us in raising much-needed funds, which we utilise in a variety of programmes designed to uplift our deaf clients. Some of our services are: Social work, deafblind and multi-disabled services, education and training, orientation and mobility, skills development, optometric and audiology screening and an outreach programme,” said the Society.
The Society shared that it was founded in 1936 and has served the social, pastoral and educational needs of blind, partially sighted, deaf, hard-of-hearing and deafblind clients.
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Get involved
To help community members to communicate with deaf people, the Society offers a Basic Sign Language class at its premises, 23 Ismail C Meer Street, Durban Central. Anybody interested in this class can call the Society on 031 309 4991 for further information on cost and times. Call the same number to purchase a TalkSign sticker and ruler or email fundraising@bdskzn.org.za.
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