Community supports Talk Sign Day
“It is a human right of every person who is Deaf to be able to communicate - to understand others and to be understood."
THE 5th annual Talk Sign Day, an initiative of the KZN Blind and Deaf Society was celebrated on Friday, 9 March.
The Talk Sign campaign is aimed at ensuring that all people in society, school children in particular, become aware of Sign Language, of the need for deaf people to communicate and to help raise money.
Promoting the Talk Sign campaign, the President of the KZN Blind and Deaf Society, Justice Zak Yacoob said, “It is a human right of every person who is deaf to be able to communicate – to understand others and to be understood. We all need to communicate with each other. Imagine how lonely it must be when you don’t understand what the people around you are saying and, no-one understands what you are trying to say? This is how people who are deaf feel, around those who don’t understand South African Sign Language (SASL). We need to make Sign Language South Africa’s 12th official language, not only for people who are deaf but for everyone’s benefit,” explained Justice Yacoob.
ALSO READ: Talk Sign 2018 launch a success
Local schools and businesses supported the day, raising funds and awareness.
Darlene Menzies, the CEO of Finfind, was delighted to support the cause: “I am hard of hearing and wear a prescribed hearing aid. One of my staff members who has been with me for many years has a son who is deaf, so I have witnessed first-hand the challenges that he has had to overcome, so it was a no brainer for us to get behind this awesome campaign.”
The Finfind team dressed in shades of blue and wore their Talk Sign stickers to show their support and promote awareness. They were eager to learn a few signs and some even tried to master the 2018 Talk Sign slogan “let’s bridge the gap”.
Darlene said: “Take the time to learn a few simple words in Sign Language so that the next time you meet someone who is hard of hearing or Deaf, you can say hello and ask how they are. Let’s all help to bridge the gap between the hearing and the Deaf.”
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