COVID-19: Disabled Community Plans “Education” through Sign Language, Dramatization

MONROVIA – Members of Liberia’s community of persons with visual impairment (blind), hearing impairment (deaf), and other persons living with disabilities are to carry awareness about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Liberia through Sign Language (for persons who can’t hear or talk) and dramatic performances.

This was disclosed at a one-day Similar (August 11, 2021) held at Smart Liberia’s conference hall situated on 2^nd Street, Jallah Town, Monrovia.

The Similar was organized by the National Union of Organizations of the Disabled (NUOD) in partnership with the Alliance on Disability in Liberia (ADL)

ADL is composed of NUOD, United Nations Development Project (UNDP), the Carter Center (NGO of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter), Sight Savers International, the Ministry of Education (through its Inclusive Education Department), Association Friends of Raoul Follereau (AIFO), an Italian organization, Plan Liberia, Willette Safe House, and other local and international pro-disability organizations.

During the Partners’ Remarks segment, Mr. Samuel Deputy, General Secretary of ADL, said the umbrella body wants each member-organization to monitor COVID-19-related issues with its members across the Country and report them to ADL.

He also said the monitoring and reporting processes will be done through a survey (to be implemented in September, 2021) that will capture Government’s direct interaction with the disabled community.

“During the Survey, we will be finding out whether vaccination centers are accessible to persons with disabilities, whether the Government is using sign language interpreters in its COVID-19 pandemic education for deaf persons to have knowledge about the virus, and many other issues related to coronavirus,” ADL’s Secretary General enumerated.

He distributed samples of the Survey Form to participants. The Form had five headings and five questions under each heading. Example, heading #2 had “The various testing centers are accessible”, with the interviewee asked to provide one of the following answers: “I strongly agree”, or “Agree” or “Neutral”, or “Disagree”, or “Strongly Disagree”

The last (5th) heading stated: “I am knowledgeable about the various health protocols laid out by the health authority”, and the interviewee is asked to pick one of the following responses similar to the ones under heading #1—and the rest of the other headings.

NUOD’s president, Madam Naomi B. Harris, said the new variant of COVID-19 has posed a greater challenge to Liberia’s disability community, in terms of wellbeing and economic survivability.

“You are not seeing all the disabled people at this Seminar because NUOD represents all the Disabled People’s Organizations, or DPOs, across Liberia and the Alliance on Disability in Liberia speaks to DPOs only through NUOD,” she added.

The Carter Center, represented by Mr. Wilfred S. Gwaikolo, Jr., Deputy Program Lead, said much of the Institution’s focus in Liberia is on “mental health”, but has added “disability” because of the latter’s connection to “health”

“Persons living with disabilities are captured in our COVID-19 programs,” Mr. Gwaikolo added.

Representative of the United Nations Development Project, Mr. Boye Johnson, UNDP’s Program Associate on Inclusive Governance and the Agency’s Focal Person on Disability, said his Institution’s connection with ADL “is based on the United Nations’ slogan that says ‘Leave No One Behind’,” he disclosed.

Madam Theresa W. Garuwo, Director of the Ministry of Education’s Inclusive Education Department (member of ADL), said her Department had never used a Sign Language interpreter during any of the Department’s interactions with the disabled community.

“This Seminar is very important, because it has drawn the attention of this vital component of the Ministry to the need to hire sign language interpreters during any of our COVID-19-related awareness in schools,” she added.

Introducing the Seminar’s Guest Speaker, NUOD’s president said the person was the first prominent Liberian person who reached out to the disabled community by providing financial support and reflective jackets for COVID-19-related awareness by disabled people during the first inception stage of the virus in Liberia.

The Guest Speaker was Madam Juli Endee, president of the Crusaders for Peace, cultural dancer, musical artist, dramatist, and current Peace Ambassador of Liberia

Her speech focused on the historicity of COVID-19—where it was first discovered, how it entered Liberia, the Government’s containment/prevention mechanisms, some Liberian’s myths and rumors concerning the virus, and the appropriate information to prevent its spread—based on science-backed education from the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control (in the United States of America), and Liberia’s Ministry of Health/National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL)

 She focused much on “messaging”, a sub topic.

“Your message should be simple, smart, measurable, accurate, reliable, and time-bound,” Madam Endee cautioned her guests.

She also advised those to partake in the survey to be compliant with the health protocols announced by the Government.

“If you are not compliant on this virus, you are like a person with her body partially exposed and going to speak to a body of Muslim women whose bodies are covered,” the popular Liberian cultural icon gave example to her guests soon to embark on the survey.

During questions/comments segment, some of the participants stated Government’s lack of persuasive explanation on distinction of centuries-old respiratory infections and Coronavirus (respiratory infection) as the major cause of many people’s “disbelief” on COVID-19 as being real.

Mr. David Hne Wallace (physically challenged), a farmer involved into crop production and animal husbandry, made an appeal to the Guest Speaker to produce a drama as education means to be used by disabled people on the upcoming COVID-19 awareness.

“I will do that, to be copied from similar thing done by the Crusaders for Peace on its COVID-19 education,” the Guest Speaker assured.

The Seminar ended with ADL’s assignments to participants to respond to drawn-out survey questions about Government’s direct connection with the disabled community through COVID-19-related education and support.

Participants were divided into four groups. The Government was rated “low” in most of the responses.

The Seminar’s Sign Language interpreter was Joshua C.V. Birr, Chairperson of Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Liberia. He promised to mobilize Sign Language Interpreters for ADL’s COVID-19 awareness. This was his response to a participants’ expressed concern of extreme low number of sign language interpreters, which would hinder the Alliance members’ awareness-related work with deaf members of the disability community.