Get involved in the KZN Blind and Deaf Society TalkSign Campaign
The KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society’s Talk Sign Day will be commemorated this March, and there are various ways that you can get involved in the educational campaign this year.
TALK Sign Day, an initiative of the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society, is coming up on March 1, and there are various ways that you can get involved in the educational campaign this year. The Kwazulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society’s TalkSign Campaign is now in its 11th year.
According to Yegeshne Naidu from the KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society the significance of this campaign is to highlight important issues facing members of the deaf community and to spread awareness of the importance of sign language in the lives of deaf people, “We are proud to have undertaken this role for so many years. It is their primary means of communication, especially for people who have hearing losses that range from severe to profound and have been diagnosed deaf from early childhood,” said Naidu.
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Naidu went on to explain that sign language is a language in its own right, with its own syntax and grammatical structure. “It has now finally assumed its place as the 12th official language in South Africa, thus bringing with it a greater need to encourage everyone to become involved in promoting this important message of highlighting the need to learn sign language and to get to know more about deaf culture,” said Naidu.
“There are a significant number of deaf or hard-of-hearing people, more than 4 million in South Africa, and their rights, like the rights of every other citizen of our country must be recognised and acted upon too. Clear communication is a basic right of every citizen, but deaf people continue to face language barriers in most situations that any person may encounter, whether it be legal, health, educational, social or general settings. An enabling environment should be the goal and in the case of the deaf community this can be achieved through the use of sign language in the majority of cases,” said Naidu.
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Naidu said the TalkSign Campaign aims to spread this message among the members of the public so that they may share this information in the communities in which they live, thereby ensuring that a wider audience is reached.
The following are some of the ways in which the public can get involved in our TalkSign Campaign:
• Purchase a TalkSign bandana for R20 or a bookmark for R10. All money raised will be used to provide services to the Deaf clientele of our community and help them find employment.
• Wear your TalkSign bandana on Talk Sign Day Friday, March 1.
• Join a class to learn sign language so that you may be able to communicate with Deaf people. (The KZNBDS conducts a Basic Conversational Sign Language Course at its premises on a Saturday morning).
• Engage in an activity using SA Sign Language on Talk Sign Day, Friday, March 1.
• Join KZNBDS for a Silent Walk on Talk Sign Day, March 1, at Botanic Gardens (Contact Yegeshne 031 3094991/fundraising@bdskzn.org.za)
• Invite KZNBDS Trained Talk Sign facilitators to give a Talk Sign presentation at your school or your business.
• Find out how KZNBDS can help you tailor make a Basic Conversational Sign Language Course for your staff with specific phrases mostly used in your business environment.
For more information on the Talk Sign Campaign, contact – 031 3094991/fundraising@bdskzn.org.za
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