10 - 16 January 2002
Issue No.568
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 10 - 16 January 2002 Issue No.568 |
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Translating silence
Despite recent efforts to translate TV programmes and Friday prayers into sign language, the hearing- and speech-impaired have much to complain about. Gihan Shahine enters their silent world
Imagine watching a mute film. A boring, silly pantomime, it would seem. Now imagine you are the only one who can't hear the dialogue and soundtrack. Everyone else is laughing, nodding, frowning or crying: you don't even know what is going on. And what if you could not even ask for an explanation? How would you feel?
photo: Emad Abdel-Hadi
Distressed. That is exactly how the deaf-mute feel when watching TV. "I used to get incensed when everybody in my family would laugh at a show on TV and nobody bothered to explain it to me," Hanan El-Nahrawi, a deaf-mute artist, told Al-Ahram Weekly with the help of a sign language interpreter. "I used to nag for translation, but my family got fed up, and eventually ignored me. It was so depressing."
Recently, however, a window in a corner of the small screen has done away with some of the stress. Through it, more programmes are being translated into sign language: films, video clips, news, and programmes about religion, society and even cooking. Those who cannot hear, it seems, can now watch TV independently.
There is no denying that the disabled generally have been receiving more attention recently, and the deaf-mute are no exception. Besides TV, the Friday khutba, the sermon that constitutes an integral part of the Friday prayers, is now translated into sign language. That experiment, however, is still confined to the Sayeda Zeinab Mosque, due to a shortage in the number of translators. The government has also been busy building schools for the deaf-mute. Equally difficult to disregard is the creation of new NGOs serving the deaf-mute population, as well as a fast-food restaurant (affiliated to a major chain) in Giza where the menus are in sign language and the waiters are hearing- and speech- impaired.
But does that mean that deaf-mute rights are now guaranteed? "Partly yes, but definitely not their basic ones," El-Nahrawi signs sharply. El- Nahrawi, however, concedes that recent media attention has inspired some change -- at least in attitudes toward those confined in silence.
That is exactly what TV announcer Hala Mahfouz thought when she launched Egypt's first- ever programme for the deaf-mute on Alexandria's Channel 5. Mahfouz, who signs fluently, decided to communicate the feelings and problems of the deaf-mute to other viewers. Starting small, with a 10-minute programme, she ran interviews and translated the unspoken words to the hearing world.
Mahfouz herself was a small child when her neighbour and close friend Hanan fell sick with a fever that left her hearing-disabled. That affliction drew the two young girls closer -- so close, indeed, that Mahfouz became her friend's only link to the outside world.
"I used to translate everything for Hanan, so I picked up sign language early on," Mahfouz recalls. And so, when she landed a TV job in 1990, she immediately thought of a programme for people just like Hanan. "The deaf-mute have long been social outcasts and I wanted to bridge the gap between them and the rest of society," she recounts. "That is why I thought of interviewing them. Of course, I was worried about how people would react at first."
These fears proved unfounded. The programme drew applause from audiences and Minister of Information Safwat El-Sherif expressed his appreciation. Mahfouz was given a 40- minute slot, and freedom to develop the content. Songs, health education, religion lessons, games and competitions in which the deaf-mute participate are now all regular features.
Mahfouz has reaped several awards (for best programme and best anchor, among others), and the show has spawned imitations on Arab and satellite channels. Cairo's Channel 1 has also introduced sign-language translation on a few programmes.
Deaf-mute audiences are thrilled with these attempts, but not necessarily satisfied with the result. Apart from Mahfouz's programme, they complain, very little is translated, and does not include news bulletins. The sign language window is too small to be clear and, more importantly, not all the translators are qualified. Many deaf-mute viewers also complain that, with the exception of Mahfouz, most translators are poor at sign language; some, furthermore, do not understand what they are translating.
"Many translators, for instance, wouldn't know the difference between the words 'global' and 'globalisation'," complains Hanan Mohsen, a deaf employee at the Ministry of Education. Hanan, who was eight when she lost her hearing, can speak and read lips. "And with no mastery of sign-language, many translators just wave their hands about without conveying a single word. The TV should consult specialists before appointing translators; otherwise, the service is useless -- what a waste of money!"
Others are happy with the attention, regardless of the outcome. "My mother once started to cry because she couldn't follow the news," says Nadia Abdallah, a lawyer whose parents are deaf- mute. "She started screaming: 'Don't we have the right to know what's going on in the world?' Now she is happy: at least television is taking the deaf-mute into consideration."
Equally happy are those who can now understand the Friday prayers. Abdallah, who translates for deaf-mute women at the Sayeda Zeinab Mosque, remembers: "The first time I translated the sermon, the worshippers cried frantically. They knew next to nothing about religion before that. They were almost hysterical because they were receiving some attention at last."
Mohsen, however, is not that impressed. She believes society has more important tasks to address -- especially education. Although the government is building new schools for the disabled, it remains unclear whether these institutions are actually offering a proper education.
"They are not," Mohsen contends. Her judgement is based on her past experience as a secondary-school teacher for the deaf-mute. She is among the privileged few who obtained a good education at a private school where she had been enrolled before she lost her hearing.
"I refused to enter a specialised school. Had I done so, I wouldn't have been able to go on to university," she recounts. "Those schools are useless." Mohsen attributes high levels of illiteracy among those with hearing and speech disabilities to the country's educational policies.
"Officials at the Ministry of Education believe the deaf-mute are best at handicrafts and thus focus on vocational training," she explains. "People still believe that the deaf-mute are incapable of learning, but they are, and they get a good education everywhere in the world except in Egypt. Here we are denied most of our basic rights."
Obtaining a driving licence is one of those rights. In Egypt, the deaf-mute are not allowed to drive. Because so many cannot read or write, they cannot follow street signs.
More generally, however, since they are "unable to express themselves, the deaf-mute have problems with health care, the legal system and society as a whole, which gets them into serious trouble," Abdallah explains. "They can end up in prison, get fired from work or kicked out of their homes without even understanding why. They often receive the wrong medical treatment because they cannot tell the doctor what is wrong."
The only legal consultant who can communicate in sign language, Abdallah has been providing legal awareness classes for the deaf- mute at human rights centres.
"There should also be doctors who understand sign-language or at least a hospital where translators are available," she adds. "But above all, I believe society should provide the deaf-mute with better education and jobs."
Work is indeed a problem. Although labour legislation stipulates that five per cent of employment opportunities be reserved for the disabled, the law is not always enforced strictly.
"The employment problem increases for the deaf-mute, who are so often uneducated, unaware of their rights and unable to explain or defend themselves," Abdallah says. Even when employed, she insists, they are not given work and employers tend to pay them salaries even lower than the legal minimum wage.
"The deaf-mute are just as productive and talented as everyone else, but society cripples them," Mohsen agrees. "They should be given better care beyond seminars and NGO publicity."
Hearing- and speech-impaired women, Mohsen insists, should be a top priority, since the obstacles faced by hearing women are compounded in their case. "Educating them and increasing awareness of their rights," she believes, "should be a major concern for NGOs working in the field."
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