A 25-year-old man who has been deaf all his life says he endured some form of bullying from people who had difficulties communicating with him.

Samuel Asiku, now a student at Immanuel Bible Training Centre for the Deaf located in Makerere, says he faced all kinds of emotional abuse while still young.

 “Everyone shouted at me in order to make me ‘understand’ what they were communicating,” Asiku explains.

Coming from a remote village in Arua, Asiku thought that he was alone in the whole world with the condition since there was none like him in the neighborhood and so, he was treated as a social misfit.

“In case I was looking in a different direction, they threw objects at me in order to tap my attention, as though I were an animal. No one ever thought that all I needed was a language that I would use to be able to interact freely with friends and family; that language is Sign language,” Asiku said.

Asiku is now training to become an evangelist. He says he loves serving God and other deaf people. He was inspired by his pastor.

Asiku attended primary school in Arua before joining Wakiso Secondary School for the Deaf where he completed Senior Four. It is from here that he joined Immanuel Bible training Centre for the Deaf.

Asiku’s story differs from that of Mercy Mueni, a member of Immanuel Church for the Deaf in Makerere. Mueni says she is the only deaf person in her family. She says she’s with respect at home and she does not remember any instance where she was rejected, or neglected in her life’s journey.

“All my siblings, parents and relatives love and care for me,” Mueni said.

Parenting a Deaf Child

Gunnar Dehli, a Norwegian evangelist working with Deaf Ministries, is a father of a Deaf son. He recalls how his wife suffered from Rubella during pregnancy and doctors in advised them to abort the pregnancy; that if they didn’t, chances of giving birth to a Deaf child were high.

Gunnar and his wife agreed that they keep the pregnancy and indeed the baby boy was deaf.

“On many occasions, after noticing him so quiet and peaceful, I wanted to satisfy my curiosity. I would come from behind while little Asmund lay down and try to call his name and at times shout, but he could remain still because he had not heard a thing. On many attempts, I threw objects to the floor in order to be able to tap his attention but all yielded nothing”, recalls Dehli.

Little by little, Dehli started to believe the fact that little Asmund was born Deaf and so convinced his wife Ingrid that they both enroll for sign language classes in order to be able to acquire a language that suits their Deaf son for better communication and relationship with him.

Gunnar says it was not easy to learn sign language but the effort was worth it since it was the only way to bond with his son.

Figures from the Uganda National Association for the Deaf indicate that nine out of every ten deaf children are born to hearing parents within a hearing setup that uses verbal communication.

Scientifically there are complications during pregnancy that can cause deafness to a child born in a family lineage where Deafness has never been heard of.

Dr. Daniel Sserunkuuma, an audiologist at Kampala Audiology and speech centre, says that during pregnancy, mothers need to take great care of themselves since what affects them can greatly affect the unborn.

“Illnesses such as Rubella, Toxoplasmosis and Herpes can cause a child to be born Deaf. There are also a range of medicines known as autotoxic drugs, which can damage the hearing system of a baby before birth; expectant mothers need to stop self-medication,” Dr. Sserunkuuma said.

According to the World health Organisation (WHO), at least 460 million people - over 5% of the world’s population – have disabling hearing loss. Of these, 432 million are adults while 34 million are children.

WHO estimates that by 2050 over 900 million people will have disabling hearing loss.