Meet the woman fighting for the rights of deaf people in Kenya

As she steps into the imposing Sentrim hotel on the shores of Lake Elementaita, Ms Josephine Aska mingles with some of the top legal minds and scholars in Kenya.

They include Prof PLO Lumumba, Prof Patricia Kameri Mbote, Prof Michael Wabwile and Dr Ruth Aura among others.

She could be mistaken for a lawyer attending the first national conference on legal aid, but she is not.

She is one of the delegates representing the deaf community at the conference and not many delegates know this until she sits in front of a sign language interpreter.

"Being deaf in Kenya is not easy, there are not many places where we can share our stories, our journeys, struggles, pains, frustrations and ultimately, successes," she says.

Her upbringing was filled with misunderstanding and misery. She faced many overwhelming odds.

Taught by challenges

Yet, Ms Aska considers herself blessed since her challenges taught her much about life and have served as a tool to help others.

She says she was not born deaf.

"At the age of nine, I suffered mumps which affected my salivary glands and caused a swelling. I was slapped by a close relative and the mumps burst. The slap left a permanent emotional scar on my life. I went to the hospital and I was told I would never hear again," she recalls.

She said that by attending a forum like the first National Conference on Legal Aid gives her an opportunity to interact with policymakers, lawyers and top legal minds to articulate issues affecting deaf people.

"I want the deaf to be happy by fighting for their rights and they should not accept messages such as 'you can't, you won't, you're ugly, you're broken, you're retarded, you're unlovable, you're too tall, you're flat’”, she says.

"I learnt to refuse the negative labels people had put on me," she added. 

Ms Aska says that she has learned to love herself as the beautiful, intelligent survivor she is — although she confesses that it has not been a walk in the park.

"You have to change your life," she says. "I urge the deaf and the disabled community in Kenya to learn so that they can grow…it is up to you to make your transformation, it's up to you to make your contribution, it is up to you to fill your heart with joy, it is up to you to find your bliss."

"No matter what obstacles, setbacks, or heartbreaks you may encounter on your life’s journey, there are always doors of possibilities open and that is what I want deaf people to understand," says Ms Aska, who is the founder and chief executive officer of the Federation of Deaf Women Empowerment Network-Kenya.

"Our organisation has 1,800 deaf women and youth and our focus is to fight for the rights of deaf girls and women and so far we operate in 26 counties," she said.

Mission

The organisation, which was established in 2008, has a mission to inspire, uplift, and lead deaf women to reclaim their ideal life without limitations.

Ms Aska says many deaf people are discriminated against because of their outlook and are seen as a burden to the society.

"Your light is your inner drive and each one of us has a unique gift to contribute to the world. Deaf persons do not want to wallow in misery, but we want to exploit our talents to contribute to the wellbeing of this nation," she said.

Ms Aska, 50, says she aims to motivate not only deaf persons but all kinds of people with a form of disability to go after their dreams.

She says many deaf people are living a life filled with loneliness, rejection, bitterness and resentment.

"I have realised that the negativity and thoughts that continue to fill the lives of deaf persons can become their permanent enemy, limitation, and disability."

"Life does not come to an end simply because you're deaf, I have overcome and they too can make it even better in life as legal aid space is opening up opportunities for them albeit rather slowly," she said, adding "we all have the gift of choice which is unlimited.''

But it has not been a walk in the park for Ms Aska.

She has overcome adversity and she did so with much resilience, hope, courage, and dignity. Today, she is a shining beacon of hope for many deaf people.

"At school, while growing up, teachers showed little patience and understanding," she recalls.

Denied job opportunities

“When I finished my O Levels at St Mary’s Mumias, I was denied job opportunities by potential employers because I was deaf."

But she says this has not changed as the deaf have barriers while the current laws are not user friendly and prevent them from accessing justice.

She said that when Covid-19 struck, deaf people became victims of lack of correct information.

"Many deaf people assumed the coronavirus can be transmitted through sex. We did not have the right information. Some married deaf couples had family conflicts as they refused to sleep together,” she says.

"Nobody was willing to give us facts about how coronavirus is spread. Most of the information we received was oral or written which is not friendly to us.

"The deaf children, unlike the rest of the students, were not able to attend virtual classes and that is when, as deaf people, we saw the real inequality that we suffer daily.

"We were receiving many reports of rape cases, pregnancy cases shot up and many girls were sexually abused. They need a lot of psycho-social support and counselling," she says.

But all is not doom and gloom.

Ms Aska says one of the greatest successes is increasing knowledge on sexual reproductive rights and gender-based violence among the deaf community through her organisation.

"Right now we have certain counties that we have been working with where the deaf can access their rights, on sexual reproductive health. They also have information which we have disseminated in form of sign language."

She said health workers are confused when dealing with the deaf during the pandemic.

"Some health workers thought since we are deaf, even our reproductive system is deaf and we have no feelings. We have tried to demystify all this wrong information."

Review policies

She urges the Ministry of Health to review its policies so that there are sign language interpreters in all healthcare facilities across the country.

"Health is a devolved function and my appeal is to the 47 county assemblies to pass laws that will compel devolved units to employ sign language interpreters," said the mother of three.

She said courts need more sign language interpreters.

"We are denied justice or justice is delayed because of the lack of sign language interpreters. Accessing lawyers is expensive and out of reach for many of our members. They lack representation which is tantamount to denying us our fundamental right as enshrined in our constitution for everyone to have a fair trial.

"We should also have sign language interpreters at police stations as we want to be treated equally like the rest of Kenyans seeking justice," she added.

"Kenya School of Law should also incorporate sign language training. Sometimes when we seek legal services, we are also forced to hire sign language interpreters and this is very expensive."

She said National Legal Aid Act needs to be reviewed and made all-inclusive.

She laments that Kenya’s education system does not favour the advancement of deaf people to pursue lucrative professions like law.

"The education foundation for deaf persons is a total mess and no wonder that is why in Kenya we don't have a single deaf lawyer," Ms Aska says.

Happiest moment

She said her happiest moment was in 2017 when her organisation was able to free a deaf man in court who had been wrongly accused and was facing a life sentence because of the communication barrier.

"The man was to rot in prison for the rest of his life simply because the courts could not engage the services of a sign language interpreter," she laments.

Her lowest moment was when a deaf student was sexually abused and contracted HIV.

"The matter dragged in court due to lack of a sign language interpreter and the perpetrator was acquitted," she recalls.

Chief Registrar of Judiciary Anne Atieno Amadi admitted that sometimes to get a sign language interpreter in court is a challenge.

"Judiciary is more than willing to partner with organisations such as Federation of Deaf Women Empowerment Network-Kenya so that we could respond more effectively," said Ms Amadi.

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