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Quick chat with Anita Adeline Gardner, founder of the Association for People with Hearing Impairment (Aphi) |30 March 2020

‘Sign language is a right for deaf people to access information in general and especially during disasters’

 

It has been almost three weeks now since we are seeing the presence of the sign language interpreters at the press conferences related to COVID-19. This is not an easy job and I personally saw the effort and energy put by the translators from the Association for People with Hearing Impairment (Aphi). We had a quick chat with its founder, Anita Adeline Gardner, who explains to us why it is important to have the sign language as part of the national languages.

 

Seychelles NATION: With such a crisis in the world, what is the importance of sign language?

Anita Gardner: There are around 70 million people with hearing impairment in the world and most depend on sign language to communicate and to access information. Seychelles’ deaf population is 1000 people and more. Most countries including Seychelles have signed the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities which states that sign language is a right for deaf people to access information in general and especially during disasters. It also states that sign language interpreters should be contracted.

The Aphi, through funding from the European Union, trained sign language interpreters in 2015. All interpreters have other jobs and necessary arrangements are made when they are requested for their services. In 2015 the interpreters association was launched boasting five certified interpreters but unfortunately only three are practicing. Though we perform in general domains, we specialise in courts, police and social domains. We do a lot of work also with the health department and we also work on Praslin and La Digue. From time to time we translate news or other programme for SBC TV related to events concerning the association.

Since 2018 we have organised sign language classes for interested persons and we hope to attract interested persons to work for the television stations.

Seychelles NATION: Who had the idea of translating everything in signs for the viewers? Is it a volunteer service?

Anita Gardner: Due to the crisis that has emerged concerning the coronavirus the Deaf Association immediately felt concern for the deaf population in Seychelles to ensure that they have access to all information that was being disseminated so I contacted the interpreters to ask them to volunteer their services which they gladly did. Contracting interpreters is a paying service but all interpreters have agreed to work for free! And for this I wish to thank them!

 

Seychelles NATION: How are you proceeding to do it and be present at events?

Anita Gardner: It has not been easy as we did not know who exactly in government we should contact. We knew that the Ministry of Health was organising press conferences so we contacted them and they agreed and we also contacted SBC to let them know that we would be in the press conference so that they will require extra equipment. Before we had to run around and made phone calls to know about other press conferences being held and had to gate crash in a conference at one time! But now I am satisfied that SBC has set up all conference rooms making allowance for interpreters. I believe after the crisis is over we need to sit with the agency responsible for access and dissemination of information for us to set up a working plan for the future.

 

Seychelles NATION: What advice would you like to give all the institutions in Seychelles?

Anita Gardner: All government institutions including the high officers whenever disseminating information to the public should think also that there are deaf people in Seychelles and leave no one behind! We can be contacted on Tel:2749791. We are happy to assist our country in this time of crisis for free!!

We wish to thank everyone for their support and to everyone listen to guidelines and be safe!

 

Vidya Gappy

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