The Kwazulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society’s TalkSign Campaign is now in its 11th year.
The significance of this campaign is to highlight important issues facing members of our Deaf community and to spread an awareness of the importance of Sign Language in the lives of Deaf people, and we are proud to have undertaken this role for so many years. It is their primary means of communication, especially for people who have hearing losses that range from severe to profound and have been diagnosed Deaf from early childhood.
Sign Language is a language in its own right, with its own syntax and grammatical structure. It has now finally assumed its place as the 12th official language in South Africa, thus bringing with it a greater need to encourage everyone to become involved in promoting this important message of highlighting the need to learn Sign Language and to get to know more about Deaf culture.
There are a significant number of Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people – more than 4 million – in
South Africa, and their rights, like the rights of every other citizen of our country must be recognised and acted upon too. Clear communication is a basic right of every citizen, but Deaf people continue to face language barriers in most situations that any person may encounter, whether it be legal, health, educational, social or general settings. An enabling environment should be the goal and in the case of the Deaf community this can be achieved through the use of Sign Language in the majority of cases.
The TalkSign Campaign, therefore, aims to spread this message among the members of the
public so that they may share this information in the communities in which they live, thereby
ensuring that a wider audience is reached.
The following are some of the ways in which the public can get involved in our TalkSign Campaign:
Purchase a TalkSign bandana for R20 or a bookmark for R10. All money raised will
be used to provide services to the Deaf clientele of our community and help them
find employment.
Wear your TalkSign bandana on Talk Sign Day – Friday – 01 March 2024
Join a class to learn Sign Language so that you may be able to communicate with Deaf
people. (The KZNBDS conducts a Basic Conversational Sign Language Course at its
premises on a Saturday morning).
Engage in an activity using SA Sign Language on Talk Sign Day, Friday 01 March 2024
Join KZNBDS for a Silent Walk on Talk Sign Day, 01 March 2024 at Botanic Gardens
(Contact Yegeshne 031 3094991/fundraising@bdskzn.org.za)
Invite our Trained Talk Sign facilitators to give a Talk Sign presentation at your
school or your business.
Find out how KZNBDS can help you tailor make a Basic Conversational Sign
Language Course for your staff with specific phrases mostly used in your
business environment.
