new comic book illustrates deaf rights

By Hila Bouzaglou (Source: Mail & Guardian)

August 17, 2006: An innovative comic book catering for the deaf community has been developed by the Gay and Lesbian Archives (Gala) to reach out to the deaf community regarding HIV/Aids, sexuality and rights and empowerment.

The comic, aptly titled Are Your Rights Respected?, is part of an independent project of the South African History Archives, located at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Gala director Ruth Morgan said the aim of the project is to develop workshops at deaf schools, using the comic book to teach both staff and students how to deal with issues such as HIV/Aids and sexuality. She said the deaf community is very homophobic, one in which it is difficult to come out as a gay person.

The producers took painstaking efforts to use "highly visual and engaging" images to illustrate South African Sign Language in communicating the storyline, Morgan said. Due to limitations in deaf education, deaf learners often have lower literacy abilities than their hearing counterparts.

Neil Verlaque-Napper, of Story Works, a company that specialises in educational comics, told the Mail & Guardian Online that he and his team avoided using speech bubbles in the comic book because they are meant for the hearing community.

Instead, his team -- including well-known deaf South African artist Tommy Motswai -- used stop frames of sign language as well as illustrations of SMS text. Verlaque-Napper said SMSing is a central way of communicating in the deaf community.

Verlaque-Napper also said that issues around being deaf are important to Motswai and that the artist was excited to produce material targeting a deaf audience.

The comic tells the story of a group of friends at a deaf school as they learn about sexual health and lobby for their right to information. Most importantly, they stick together, especially when their friend Dorothy is a victim of sexual abuse.

According to the Centre for Deaf Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, deafness is considered the single largest disability grouping in South Africa. South African Sign Language (SASL) is used by approximately 500 000 deaf South Africans, yet few resources are available to this community regarding important issues such as HIV, health and human rights.

John Meletse, a deaf-outreach coordinator for Gala who works in schools and with deaf communities, said there is a need for more knowledge of these issues in schools for the deaf.

"One of the schools for deaf learners informed me that they are aware of two HIV-positive, young, deaf learners there, and asked me to continue visiting the school on a regular basis. They asked me to come and help the deaf assistants understand HIV issues in more depth," said Meletse, who is open about his homosexuality and his HIV-positive status.

"Through his [Meletse's] journey, we've understood the need for this work," Morgan said.

A thousand copies of the 14-page, A4-size comic will be distributed through DeafSA (formerly the South African National Council for the Deaf), and 3 000 copies will be distributed through the Gauteng department of education to schools for the deaf.