Many people learn a new language for school, work or travel, but some do it out of love.
Shamim Nakutho is one of three Blantyre residents who learned sign language to communicate better with their loved ones “who needed to be understood like any other person”.
“I remember when we were young, Muchitadala Chibowa wanted to buy a ruler at a shop, but the shopkeeper couldn’t figure out what she was saying. I had to tell the shopkeeper what she needed. This was the time I started learning sign language seriously to help her,” she says.
Chibowa needed help to communicate everyday messages and conversations.
Nakutho learned sign language at Slid alongside her peers Ethel Mughogho and Denis Mbenji.
Learning the language that uses handshapes, movements, facial expressions and body postures to convey meaning rather than spoken words was difficult and fraught with mistakes, but they kept perfecting the skills.
“Since I expected my friend to communicate in my world, I also had to make an effort to enter hers,” Nakutho states. “Now, I can confidently express myself knowing that she understands me.”
Chibowa, a year two student at Malawi Institute of Tourism in Blantyre, appreciates her friend’s effort to bridge the communication gap.
Every conversation between the pair confirms why everyone, including service providers and those without hearing difficulty, needs to acquire sign language skills.
“What a friend I have in her,” she says. “She understood me from the beginning because having friends with my condition is difficult.”
Mughogho, from Chilobwe Township in the commercial capital, was compelled to learn sign language when her third-born, aged 21, was diagnosed with hearing loss.
“I had to learn how to communicate with her,” she says. “There were moments when the child was hungry or hurting, but I couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. Learning sign language brought us closer.”
Mughogho also bonded with her daughter’s deaf friends at Blantyre Secondary School.
“When I visit her at school, I normally gather all students with hearing loss for a chat. We laugh and discuss how they are coping and how I can help,” she says.
For the mother of four, learning sign language is about leaving no one behind or isolated.
“Many people don’t understand my daughter, but she doesn’t feel ignored when I am around,” she says.
Similarly, Mbenji, from Chesomba near Manje Township in Blantyre Rural, did not want his sister to be left out of family conversations or an interpreter who would gain unwarranted access to her privacy.
“I didn’t want somebody else to tell me what my sister was saying,” he states. “Learning sign language was not easy, but it proved worthwhile as it strengthened the bond with my sister who became my part-time teacher too.”
Today, the siblings share light moments and top secrets, arguing and discussing family issues without any intruder or interpreter in sight.
More than signs
Communication can determine whether people with hearing loss feel included or isolated, but the challenge goes beyond families.
The Malawi Human Rights Commission has asked government to recruit certified Malawi Sign Language interpreters in health facilities, police stations, courts and other institutions.
On the International Day of the Deaf, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Mary Navicha said the government plans to start teaching sign language in all public schools and early childhood development centres.
Authorities also plan to use the K2 billion from the Disability Trust Fund to train sign language interpreters.
Malawi National Association of the Deaf executive director Byson Chimenya says access to information and public services remains a major barrier to inclusion.
“Many deaf persons miss out on important services because there are no sign language interpreters,” he says.
According to the 2018 census by the National Statistical Office, about 140 000 Malawians aged five and above have some hearing difficulty, with about 26 000 unable to hear at all.
For Nakutho and like-minded people, inclusion begins with a simple decision to learn the language spoken by the minority at risk of being left behind.
Just like that, a friend learned sign language for a friend, a mother for her child and a brother learnt for his sister.
“For me, this is what true love sometimes looks like. Nokutho is a friend indeed,” says Chibowa.
