On Wednesday we visited Sparrow Village. The unexpected rain brought a change of plans for our afternoon. We toured the hospital where young and old AIDS patients find spiritual, physical, and emotional care. The tour through the village allowed us to visit the children – they were divided into various rooms based on age. Our final stop at Sparrow Village was a room full of children ranging in age from 6 to 16. Originally, we expected to meet with three teenagers each for conversations, but when we arrived we knew immediately the plan would change. The children were divided by age into groups.
My group was unique because the four children with whom I met were all deaf. It was in this moment I was exceptionally grateful for my upbringing and exposure to the deaf community through the life of my Uncle John (a deaf-mute). I introduced myself and immediately realized the language barrier was going to be problematic, but we managed with several laughs and perplexed faces. We shared an interest in sports and talked about school and I was exceptionally excited when one girl, Gladys, shared with me her love for learning. Even though my own sign language skills are limited, we were able to find common ground. We taught all of the students a song and created a hybrid sign language version, which we shared with the entire group.
As if the silence through the inability to hear wasn’t enough, these youth lived in silence even within their own community. The adults working with the children did not communicate with the deaf youth through sign language, the other children in the room did not communicate with these youth, and they were obviously elated to share their language with the rest of the group for what may have been the first time ever in Sparrow Village. The smiles on the faces of the deaf girls told quit a story and reminded me of our responsibility as adults to give voice to the voiceless and create space for those whom go unheard to be heard.
-- Wendy --
