Tuesday 22 October 2019 Issue
The newly elected President of The Gambia Association of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (GADHOH) has said that Deaf People are lacking access to quality education, good health care, employment, while their rights are being violated at work places.
Binta
Badjie, the newly elected GADHOH President in unveiling her plans has expressed
concern over the numerous challenges confronting hard of hearing people, and
pledge to design strategies towards addressing the needs of deaf people.
Speaking
in an interview at the Gadhoh Head Office in Kanifing on 12 October 2019, Ms
Badjie who was elected during Gadhoh’s Congress on 11 October 2019, noted that
a lot of progress has to take place, adding: “I want to consolidate the
developments that have taken place, by reviewing the existing policies, with a
view to addressing the rights of deaf women in particular, and to have enough
Sign language interpreters in The Gambia.
“I
will partner with Hospitals and the Gambia Nurses Association to make sure deaf
people have confidence in Doctors’ treatments. This is because deaf people face
challenges in hospitals due to language barriers. We will organise training for
Doctors and Nurses to foster communication and understanding with their Deaf
patients.
“We
will visit health training institutions, to talk to incoming Nurses about
providing efficient health care service for Deaf people,” she said, and added,
“We will advocate for recognition of Sign Language and access for sign
language, especially for pregnant Deaf women and deaf children.”
Ms
Badjie said the education system is not accessible to Deaf people, as there are
only two main schools for the Deaf in The Gambia, located at Kanifing and
Brikama. “Access to Secondary and Tertiary education is the biggest challenge
as most schools lack facilities to accommodate Deaf students. Health and
communication are challenges because Doctors often give wrong prescription to
Deaf patients, due to language barriers,” she said.
The
Gadhoh President further asserted: “We also learn that Deaf people are not
accessing relevant information. We will therefore take it up with the Ministry
of Information, as well to meet relevant Government institutions to ensure that
the issue is sorted out.”
Ms
Badjie lamented that employment is also another challenge, connected to
education, noting that Deaf people lack quality education, and end up being
labourers, being offered low salaries, and have their rights violated at work
places. She said some are paid every three months; while most of them go
without employment benefits, such as social security.
She
said as someone with good experience in lobbying and advocacy, she would
prioritise to meet employers and companies, and make head counts on deaf
employment, to sensitise company and business owners to ensure and guarantee to
Deaf peoples’ rights in work places. “Deaf people are also employers and we
will sensitized them, with a view to improving working conditions for their
fellow Deaf people,” she said.
Ms
Badjie was a student at St. John School for the Deaf, and proceeded to
mainstream school at Nusrat Senior Secondary School from 2008 to 2011. “The
integration process was not perfect and I had to struggle to complete my
schooling,” she said.
She
thereafter was admitted at the American International University where she
studied Human Resource and Labour Management- BSc from January 2015 to January
2019, and graduated in May 2019.
She
co-founded Gambian Deaf Women’s Society and through the Organisation, she
established the first ever deaf owned Restaurant in The Gambia, employing only
Deaf Women.