More focus on deaf population needed, says ardent advocate

Jan 20, 2013 News

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With the passage of the Disability Act in 2010, discrimination of persons with varying forms of disability has been outlawed. However, there has still been evidence of discrimination, particularly among the deaf community.
Well at least this is the opinion of some deaf persons associated with the Guyana Deaf Mission.
Speaking through her sign language teacher, Pastor Lawrence Hallahan, Corine Hunte, a product of his teaching, who also today teaches sign language, indicated that “there is not much being done for deaf people…the new law applies more to the blind than it does to the deaf two years on. The Government doesn’t seem to like us.”
In fact, Hallahan related that Hunte’s sentiments have been mirrored by a number of other deaf individuals who are convinced that they are being neglected.  Moreover, he amplified the need for continued training of interpreters so that if for instance important officials are making public speeches there would be an interpreter for the deaf.
“This would allow the deaf population to understand what the Government is about and what they are doing…They (deaf) feel they are left out of the political arena. They feel they are neglected education-wise, health-wise and even security-wise.”
This neglect, he added, extends to the fact that the deaf are not permitted to have licences to drive.  He explained that a number of studies done in developed countries show that deaf persons are in fact safer drivers than people who can hear since they are known to pay more attention to what is happening on the road.
“We (hearing people) have learnt to turn off the sirens, so even when it goes some of us can hardly hear it. With deaf people there are few accidents because they drive slower and safer. There is no reason why a deaf person cannot have a licence to drive.”
According to Hallahan, deaf persons are being refused licences based on their deafness and not their driving ability “…and that the law says is forbidden. This new law says that they (issuing authorities) can’t do that…they (deaf people) can’t be discriminated against based on their disability.”
In this regard, Hallahan, through the Guyana Deaf Mission which he spearheads along with his wife Mary, is working on a plan to advocate for deaf persons to be granted licences to drive.
“We have a group of about four (deaf) guys who want to be licenced and two of them have already been refused,” said Hallahan.
He is however heartened by the fact that efforts to raise awareness about the needs of deaf persons has allowed for a change in the area of education, whereby the Ministry of Education has become aware of the need to do something more for deaf students.
Added to this, he said that there is a gradual move towards the realisation that sign language is in fact a language by itself, therefore efforts must be made to embrace this.
Further still, he observed that even the church has been embracing the fact that the deaf population needs to understand the gospel just as any other member, thus a number of officers of the church have been learning sign language themselves.
According to Hallahan, his primary focus as it relates to the deaf population has been premised on bringing them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Born and raised in the United States, Hallahan grew up without his current religious convictions. As a young adult he opted to embrace the Christian faith and commenced attending bible school. It was at this point that he made the decision to start learning sign language as an elective course.
“I took it just to fill up some credits that I needed, but it turned out to really be a wonderful experience.”
Having learned sign language, Hallahan said that he started to meet some deaf persons, an exposure which was intensified as he started to collaborate with one of his classmates whom he started working with to open a deaf exclusive church.
“He (classmate) was a hearing person, but he wanted to do this and he asked me to join him. This was back in 1974 and so I worked with him for 10 years…” The church, as he recalled, was independent from other churches, but it was a hearing church that had provided the building.
As part of the deaf church, Hallahan said that he initially started teaching Sunday School classes before he too began engaging in some preaching and teaching of bible studies classes himself, all the while using sign language to communicate with the deaf audience.
Although he was travelling to Guyana on occasions since 1991 on religious missions, Hallahan, about 10 years ago, made the life-altering decision to take up residence here.

He reflected that initially he was reluctant to move to Guyana, as he did not merely want to come as a preacher, given the existing Christian population. This saw him starting to eye a specific area of Ministry in which he could help to make a notable impact. Given his signing skills, Hallahan said that he started considering the deaf population.
He and his wife, who is also skilled in teaching sign language, made their voyage to Guyana in 2002.
“We came here under the authority of the Full Gospel Fellowship and I asked them if they would loan us a building for a while to get started and we started right away.”
This move heralded the introduction of the Guyana Deaf Mission which was officially launched in 2003. However it was not all smooth sailing at first, since another church building was being used for bible study and other church services were held at a gym in Kitty.
This way of operation would continue for about four years, when Hallahan recognised that there was a dire need to consolidate the Ministry. And so in 2006, he, along with his wife, started looking for a conducive building to accommodate all the activities.
They were able to find one at Lot 8 Vlissengen Road and D’Andrade Street, Newtown, Georgetown, where it remains to date, offering church services to the deaf population and classes to those desirous of learning sign language. In fact a sign language class is set to commence tomorrow for beginners. An advanced class is already ongoing.
“Since we have come here it has really become a deaf centre and many of the deaf come here…even if they don’t come to church, they come for the other things that we do.”
The Guyana Deaf Mission has even been collaborating with the One Laptop Per Family programme, and has opened its doors to offer computer classes to deaf individuals who were recipients of laptops.

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