Introduction

Out of over 126 million Nigerians, over five hundred thousand are deaf or hearing impaired.  The fact that the dialect of this ‘ethnic’ group is not easily comprehensible by the larger populace has made it difficult or near impossible to absorb them into the formal or secular working environment.

On their part the deaf or hearing impaired, find it hard to trust the hearing, since they do not hear audible sound, “their auditory channel does not serve as the primary sensory means by which speech and language are received and develop.” Some of the deaf thus wallow in self-pity, and are on the average very aggressive.

With the adoption of the American Sign Language however as the unifying ‘language’ of the deaf in Nigeria, things are gradually becoming easier, a good measure of hearing ones has learned the language. This according to Dr. Ikechukwu Nwadinigwe, and Mrs. F.O. Anumonye, has the following advantages:

1.      It signifies to the deaf client that there is someone who is interested enough in his welfare to have taken the trouble to learn how to communicate with him;

2.      It gives a young deaf client a feeling of status to be able to manage his own interviews without the perennial need to have someone else to do his talking/thinking for him. This moves him to an important step along the road to maturity.

3.      It enables the counselor to gain his client’s confidence and cooperation on a far deeper level than he ordinarily would;

4.      The knowledge of communication methods by a counselor possesses distinct therapeutic communication values.

The next challenge however, is how to create an enabling environment between hearers, and the deaf or hearing impaired. This can be done when there is a basis for inter-relation between hearers and the hearing impaired.
            What better place for this inter-relation could there be than the working environment, where the hearers, appreciate the intelligence of the deaf, and the deaf on the other hand do know that they have no reason to suspect hearers.

The InfoTech Link              

When most hearers end up as Presidents, Bankers, Managers, Accountants, Secretaries, Information Managers, Surveyors, Teachers, Businessmen, Fashion designers etc, the deaf end up as tailors, bakery workers, factory workers, printers, and other sort of menial jobs. Why would this not be so, when they cannot have the type of education hearers have? In Lagos for example with a population of about 20 million, of which over 15,000 are deaf, can you believe that there is just one primary school and one secondary school for the deaf. In Nigeria Institute of higher learning there is very, very little or no provision at all for deaf students. For this reason, the average deaf person lives and wakes up in abject poverty, they wallow in self-pity, and most of them think they have no future.

            More so, unlike developed nations, where extra care and attention are given to the deaf and other students with special needs, the academic attention given to people with special needs in Nigeria is not sufficient or not existing.

            Yes, there are schools for the deaf and hearing impaired, but the question is how equipped are these schools? How much attention do the teachers give to the students?

            Due to his trend it is really hard to convince deaf ones that there could be an understandable relationship between them and hearers.

            To create a blend, a basis by which the deaf or hearing-impaired ones could be introduced into the secular working environment, Eureko Mechatronics (NIG) Limited creates the information technology link. This link is what we have referred to as:

The ‘PROTHESE’ Initiative Projects (P.I.P.)

“Prothese’ is the French word that implies ‘aid for the deaf’. The Prothese charity initiative however is basically based on training the deaf to use the computer, (i.e. breaking down computer technology in American Sign Language). Prothese is also a deaf empowerment initiative that is aimed at giving the deaf a positive outlook on life or better still we hopes to turn the life of the average deaf person in Nigeria around, we want to make them believe in a better tomorrow.

            Presently in Nigeria, we are at the peak of the computer boom, so the PRIMARY AIM of the initiative is: to train the deaf or hearing impaired to use the computer, while our objective is to see that ‘qualified deaf are provided at the end of the program, so that they can be absorbed into the formal/secular working environment’.

            Other Aims:

• To develop an empowering computer education structure that teaches deaf students to develop the confidence necessary to exercise their basic rights, and accept their responsibilities.
• To promote the right of every deaf person, so they can start to enjoy equal opportunity in all aspect of life with hearers.
• To encourage parents of deaf children to take an active role in their child’s education and development.
• To expose (as much as possible) every deaf person to the world’s information super highway (the Internet).

Program Structure of the PROTHESE Computer Training

The training is an intensive practical training on how to use the computer. It will run for 3 months, three days in the week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), from 3 to 6pm. There is an added one-month for Industrial Attachment. After which the deaf would be ready to work.

            The program course include: Typing (30wpm), Introduction to Computer & Windows Operating System, Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Excel 2000 and Corel Draw.

            At the end of the program participants will be awarded Certificate in Information Management and Graphics.

When Did Work Start On the Project?

The idea was conceived sometime in 2002, there was the period of designing the project, and the shape it will take. Real work however started by April 2003. The first phase of the project was the training of American Sign Language experts that are now serving as instructors for the project. The second phase is the training of the deaf themselves, which has commenced fully since Monday 8^th September 2003.

 Are the Deaf expected to pay?

No, they are not! We have taken their economic conditions into consideration, and have decided the training will be ‘without charge’ for the deaf. Our vision for the deaf in Nigeria is summed up in…

The Five Why’s of P.I.P.?

What is on ground now: One Primary school only for the deaf in Lagos. 

1. Why can’t there be more primary schools for the deaf in Nigeria?

What is on ground now: One secondary school only for deaf, some hearers are also students in the school, so deaf students do not full attention.

2. Why can’t there be more fully functional secondary schools for deaf children?

What is on ground now: No University in Nigeria has full-scale provision for students with special needs.

3. Why can’t there be an all deaf University, College of Education, or Polytechnic in Nigeria?

What is on ground now: Most deaf persons are looked down upon, many are promised employment, which they are not given, and even if some are given the working condition is very poor.

4. Why can’t the deaf be gainfully employed on merit, rather than out of pity?

What is on ground now: Hearers adjudge deaf self employed as incompetent, as such they do not patronize them

5. Why can’t deaf self-employed people (tailors/Fashion designers, Printers, Bakers) enjoy patronage from hearers, so they can make ends meet?

Note: Facts used here, has Lagos [primarily] as case study

How Will The Initiative Be Funded?

Well, for a start 5% of all the income generated at Eureko Mechatronics (NIG) Limited, Eureko Computer Institute, and Eureko International Aviation Training Institute, is earmarked for the running of the initiative.

What Prothese Need Money For?

The Managing committee of Prothese will be paid salary. This committee includes the Facilitator of the program and four instructors that understand American Sign Language, the language of the Prothese classroom.

            There will also be the need to pay the legal adviser attached to the initiative. While the Supervisory Committee would also be due for a form of ‘sitting allowance’, whenever such sitting is called for, and there is need to meet up to the day to day running of the project.

            The 5% earmarked by Eureko Mechatronics (NIG) Limited and its’ subsidiaries, will definitely not be enough to cover this expenses.

More so there is an

The Expansion Plan

The first class of Prothese will only have 10 students. It is a test-run, and the class will be constituted on a first come first serve basis. We have plans on ground to expand the class structure, thereby giving more deaf the needed leverage.

            After the first class (so that attention can be given to each member of the class, the class size will not be more than 10), we hope to increase classes to 5 (that is an additional 4 to what we have on ground), get more computers, train more hearing American Sign Language experts, and at a point we hope to have a Mobile Prothese Team that will move from state to state to reach the deaf and hearing impaired ones scattered all over Nigeria. There is also the deaf run “Prothese Cyber-café”. The deaf will not pay to surf the Internet here, it is the bit of money generated from hearers patronizing this café that will be used in maintaining the café project.

The Managing Committee

This is made up of credible men and women. They are in-charge of the running of the initiative. It is their job to develop practical ways in which the deaf are to be empowered. They include: Training Manger, an Assistant Training Manager and two counselors that are American Sign Language literate. The Facilitator and head of the Managing Team is Aireomiye Melchy Olamide James – the Head of Operations Eureko Mechatronics (NIG) Limited. A computer scientist by discipline, he has stints in Journalism and Advertising, and he has professional certificate from ITPAN (Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria) training school, in Producing, Directing and Scriptwriting.

            The Managing Committee is under the supervision of the;

The Supervisory Committee

Prothese though is not full fledge Non Governmental Organization, it is a practical deaf empowerment initiative, but the Managing Team is still under a Supervisory committee.

Members of this committee include:

1. Engr. Bamidele Owoola            C.E.O. Eureko International, London.
2. Dr. Ike P. Nwadinigwe            Education Foundation UNILAG.            (Chairman)
3. Lori Ann Fuller              President, Deaf Empowerment, Wisconsin USA.
4. John S. Yusuf                           Sec. General, Confederation of African Deaf Sports.
5. Mr. Ben S. Oke                 Law Rock and Union Insurance Lagos.
6. Mr. Yinka Ogunsanya            Midas International Magazine, Lagos.
7. Mr. Ade Folarin                        GM, Chartered Bank PLC, Lagos.
8. Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Osarenren            Education Foundation, UNILAG.
9. Elizabetta Deavi              President, Deaf Empowerment, Paraguay
10. Mr. Akin Dada               Federal Ministry of Environment.
11. Barrister Seth Amaefule Esq.            Private Practice (Secretary)

The Supervisory Committee, advices and oversees the activity of the Managing

Committee. They will meet once in a month to access the report of the Managing Committee       

Join Us

We encourage all hearers, deaf, or hearing impaired to register to be on our mailing list. To do this, send an e-mail to emlprothese@yahoo.com, or register via our temporary web page at http://www.geocities.com/emlprothese with the following details. Your Names, Age, Contact Address, Occupation, Sex, Marital status and Your Story (if deaf or hearing impaired, about 1000 words). You can also send this by regular post our office.

Take Note

That the Prothese initiative is not deaf organization, but rather it is a deaf empowerment initiative aimed at drawing a parallel between the hearing and hearing impaired in Nigeria. Prothese is also to develop practical steps to empower the deaf. It is open to all deaf and hearers alike.