From these groups, Deaf people are the most neglected. African society assumes that deafness, which is an invisible disability, indicates stupidity. In certain countries it is believed that Deaf people are possessed by evil spirits and that they are therefore ignorant and incapable of learning. Many parents neglect their Deaf children and hide them away out of shame. This indigenous attitude results in the sad fact that Deaf people are often excluded from mainstream society. As such, Deaf people accept what they are told; they do not have the knowledge that they have a right to speak out. They have never been allowed to debate, to say what they think and speak for themselves.

Even now, in the 21st Century, they are too afraid to speak up for what they believe in. If something is not done to support them, their future will continue to be one of illiteracy, misery and poverty.

For these reasons, the Deaf Education Africa Foundation was established, to try and rectify some of these problems and make a positive and lasting difference.  It is our dream but we believe that with your support we can make this dream become one reality.

At present we are working at Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo with two groups of Deaf people.

1st Group: Deaf children.  

We provide support, in the form of transport, to get Deaf children to one of the schools who cater for the Deaf.

Kinshasa is a large city made up of 24 boroughs with over 8 millions inhabitants. Deaf people are scattered all over these boroughs and there are only 3 schools for the Deaf.    

Nearly 95% of Deaf children live more than 6 miles away from the nearest Deaf schools. The Department for Education has no transport provision for Deaf children and parents are unable to pay for any public transport due to their economic circumstances.  Currently there are no residential schools for these children to attend. The transport we are providing to these Deaf children enable them to attend school on a regular basis, reducing instances of absenteeism.  Children are then able to receive a basic education.

We also supply books, notebooks, pencils, visual teaching material and equipment adapted for educating Deaf children.

We are in the process of sponsoring 4 orphaned / abandoned Deaf children. Our monthly contributions will be used to improve the lives of these Deaf children, now and into the future.

We run Congo Sign Language classes for hearing parents of Deaf children. Family members are very satisfied with this Sign Language course.  As a result of this course we have promoted better communication and understanding between parents and siblings of Deaf children within the family environment.

A sign Language teacher in action during Parents Sign Language class.

In addition to this, parents learn about Deaf Culture and Deaf history. They are also offered an opportunity to meet with other Deaf adults, giving them the chance to see for themselves what Deaf people are able to do. They are now able to see a positive future for their Deaf children.

2nd Group: Deaf women & Deaf girls.

We run a training programme with three forms of education for Deaf women & girls. They are; Basic Business, Health and Human Rights. We have developed different health workshops addressing topics such as: nutrition, malaria prevention, domestic violence, AIDS, birth control and a range of women’s health issues.

We help Deaf women & Deaf girls to develop practical business skills, which enable them to break out of the poverty cycle forever. After successful business training, we offer them the capital to start up and grow their own small business.

Typical lessons that we provide are listed as below: