At the age of 15, Beata was raped twice in her village. She became pregnant and now has two young children. According to her father, who also speaks for her, Beata was born with a double disability – she is hard of hearing and speech impaired. Life is tough for her. Beata’s story is not an isolated one. In our homes, families, villages, here in Rwanda and beyond many people share similar experiences. Most do not receive social or economic support; education or training to function to fend for themselves, much less to function fully in society. Across the world, about 15% (more than 1 billion people) of the total world population live with some form of disability. About 80% of these live in developing countries like Rwanda. They systematically experience poorer health outcomes, lower educational achievements, less economic, political, and cultural participation, higher rates of poverty, increased dependency, and less legal protection. Their stories are unknown and their identity is only about their disability. In truth, however, we are only as disabled as the infrastructure we have built enables or prevents us from living a fulfilling life. We must adapt society in ways that enable all people to thrive. For those like Beata who are hearing impaired, this would start by treating sign language as a real language: incorporating it as an elective in the first years of public education, and making sign language education available to adults. Sign language should be taught in schools, just as other foreign languages are included, despite the small number of people in the population who may actually speak it. Sign language should also be widely used in the media, on public signs, in the courts, and in entertainment. If sign language was considered a real language, many of the barriers Beata faced would have been removed. She could have attended school, learned about and enjoyed her rights, and created a network of strong and lifelong relationships. Sign language is a complete, natural language with an extensive vocabulary and grammatical rules just as spoken languages. It is an essential tool for communication for millions of people around the world. It is set to become a recognised language in the United Kingdom, joining 71 countries that already do so. In addition, we have the opportunity to use technology to improve the ability of those with a range of disabilities to learn and to function fully. At the same time, fully hearing people who take the opportunity to learn sign language will themselves have fuller lives. After all, the goal of education is to produce responsible and compassionate individuals. What better way to equip them than with the tools to understand those in the minority? I recently visited a school for children with Down Syndrome and with Autism Spectrum Disorder, only to learn that Rwanda does not have enough speech therapists to help guide their development. As a country that was among the first to use robots to fight COVID-19, and is at the forefront of using technology for social good, we can certainly do the same to help those children who need access to speech therapy, sign language instruction, and other services that can be provided by robotics and mechatronics. Of course, there are not enough teachers of sign language to fill the current gap in Rwanda’s educational system. The Rwanda National Union of the Deaf estimates that there are over 70,000 people with hearing and speech impairment in Rwanda, and just 40 trained teachers. Teacher training programs need to include sign language in their curriculum. Although it will take years to train sufficient numbers of teachers, in the meanwhile we can use digital technology and robots in schools to teach the language and to make sign language interesting to kids. The same robots could serve as speech therapists. The benefits will be immeasurable: people who are hearing or speech impaired will be fully able to participate in life, advocate for themselves, and, if necessary, defend themselves at law. Equally important, it will take away the stigma and open up new worlds of possibility. There is another chapter to Beata’s story. She recently received two healthy goats from the National Union of Disability Organisations in Rwanda (NUDOR) in an initiative funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She takes care of the goats and now they provide manure for a small banana plantation that helps feed the family. When we visited Beata and her family, she was visibly proud of her accomplishment. Her father was, too. United Nations agencies, Ministries and public institutions, the private sector, and civil society organisations have the opportunity to make our society more inclusive, to make places and communities more accessible, to deliver inclusive services and tailored solutions to the various challenges people with disabilities are facing. I believe Beata can write another chapter to her story. One that is even more hopeful and boasts many achievements. Given the education and training, she will sign that story, and more of us will understand it, and celebrate with her. The writer is a Senior Fellow of Aspen New Voices and Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Rwanda. Twitter: @GomeraM
