A ray of hope for those with hearing impairment

Since October 19, New Vision has been publishing stories highlighting the plight of Persons With Disability (PWDs) and compliance of public facilities with laws governing this disadvantaged group in Uganda. 

In the ninth of a daily series that will run through to October 30, 2022, Sarah Nakasenge profiled Simon Eroku, who is trying to simplify life for those living with hearing impairment.

Simon Eroku, a resident of Entebbe, is a father of three boys and one girl. While he and his wife both have hearing impairment, their children do not. During our interaction with Eroku, Dorcus Ariko, his sister, was our sign language interpreter.

What happened?  

Eroku was born with normal hearing but started experiencing difficulties at the age of nine. However, when he was turning 12, he stopped hearing completely. 

Eroku says he is not the only child in their family with hearing impairment; three other siblings, all male, have the same condition. His mother also has the same condition. 

Education 

Eroku went to Entebbe Christian School for kindergarten and then joined Namatte Primary School. While in Primary Five, he started losing his sense of hearing, but persevered until he completed primary level. 

When he joined Ngora High School for secondary education, he was pleasantly surprised to find inclusive learning. 

Students with hearing impairment and those without, were studying together with the assistance of sign language interpreters. 

Ekoru says three of his siblings also have hearing impairment.

Later on, he joined Kyambogo University, where he graduated with a degree in industrial art and design.

Having been of good hearing before, Eroku says he never found challenges in school because his friends without the hearing challenge, would support him during classes.  

Career 

Immediately after school, Eroku volunteered with the National Union for Disabled Persons Uganda (NUDIPU), working with youths for four months. 

At some point, they were joined by some film-makers from abroad, who trained them in the same. 

They produced documentaries about the capabilities of persons with disability. 

Later, he got a job with the Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) as a communications officer. 

Eroku took part in producing videos that were used to sensitise those with hearing impairment in the communities, on how to use sign language and also shared news on what was happening around the world. 

Down the road, he set up an information and technology company. 

“I developed an app that could enable people with hearing impairment to access public services using their phones and computers,” Eroku says. The app benefits both those who cannot hear and the interpreters. For instance, it helps expectant mothers with hearing impairment to communicate with health workers while receiving antenatal services. 

With the app, there’s an interpreter who connects the two and it even has instructions on how to pay for the service. 

Eroku says more than 700 people countrywide have used it. He also developed Sign TV to assist those with hearing impairment to understand whatever is happening around the world. 

Eroku has developed different programmes to simplify life for people with hearing impairment.

“In Uganda, our televisions have small boxes of sign language interpreters, yet those at home still have the old model version of screen televisions where they cannot even see what the sign language interpreter is relaying and, hence, miss the news. 

But if we had a full screen with a sign language interpreter, with a voice interpreter in the background and subtitles on the screen, it would help us to remain informed and updated,” Eroku says. 

The sign TV is now a year old. “Normally, with TV and radio, we can hardly hear nor understand what is being said,” Eroku says. 

He adds that when Covid-19 hit, most of the people with hearing impairment in the communities who did not have TVs missed out on the President’s addresses to the nation. 

“We often do not know what’s happening around us, which is really a big challenge,” Eroku adds. 

“For instance, there was a youth with hearing impairment, who was found walking around at night during curfew. The police arrested him and thought he was being stubborn because he was not responding to their questions. 

They hit him and he was later hospitalised. Unfortunately, he passed on. But all this happened because they did not know about the announcements of lockdown, curfew and other COVID-19- related guidelines. We should not be left behind,” he adds.

Prevalence of disability in Uganda  

Statistics from the Uganda National Population and Housing Census 2014 estimates that about 3.4m Ugandans have some kind of disability. 

Of these 6.5 % cannot see, 5.4% have diffi culty in remembering, 4.5% have difficulties in walking, 3.1 % in hearing, and roughly one-third of all children and adults with disability have difficulties in more than one domain. 

Eroku (front)during a presentation.

The Situational Analysis of Persons with Disability in Uganda report by the ministry says the prevalence of disability increases sharply with age, with around 40% of older persons aged 65 years and above having a disability in Uganda, rising to 57% among those aged 80 years and above.

“Disability is most prevalent among older persons in Uganda, for as people age and grow frailer, their health decreases and they are more likely to experience age-related impairments. However, since Uganda has a young population, currently, the highest numbers of people with disability are below the age of 15 years,” the report states. 

The report adds that disability is predicted to increase substantially across all age groups by 2050, which calls for implications for the policies that Uganda puts in place.

Recommendations

Eroku implores the Government to consider their needs as it does for other Ugandans who do not have disabilities. 

“Even Ugandans with hearing impairment want adverts and announcements on TV and radio to be inclusive. 

“We want sign language interpreters inside the classrooms because most teachers do not know it and so cannot teach children with hearing impairment. We request the Government to support teachers to learn sign language,” he says. Some of the beneficiaries of the Government’s affirmative action are students with hearing impairment, and training to become teachers. 

However, when they leave school, they are not recruited by the Government, yet they are needed in many schools. Research has proven that when a teacher with hearing impairment teaches a student with the same condition, they learn faster than they do with hearing teachers, with whom there is a disconnect. 

Currently, Eroku is developing software for a cartoon that will help young children (0-3years) to learn sign language before they go to school. Lillian Namukasa, the information officer for the National Council for Persons with Disability, says law enforcement is limited due to inadequate funding and lack of information by the service providers and the PWDs themselves. 

“Community service providers for those with hearing challenges do not have the knowledge and cannot sign. Some of them do not understand professional sign language, yet sign language interpreters are few and too expensive to hire,” she states. 

Namukasa adds that national laws are not translated into local languages or accessible formats. Negative attitudes from the communities also affect compliance. 

This article was produced with support from WAN-IFRA Women in News, Social Impact Reporting Initiative grant. However, the views are not those of WAN-IFRA Women In News.

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