My Asset Map

I have many big goals and dreams I want to see becoming a reality in my lifetime. I want to share an experience that occurred many years ago. I aspired to become a Chartered Accountant or a Social Worker; however one experience changed my entire aspiration and plans. I went to the bank with my mother at a very tender age. The staff at the bank could not sign and my mother’s literacy level was low so communicating in writing was out of question. I had to “interpret” for my mother which was a battle because English was not my first language. I was my parents, friends of my parents and some member of the community ‘voice’ and ‘ears’. I would be asked to interpret in clinics, church, banks, at a school parents meeting.

The most proud moment is that I bridged communication between the silent and hearing world. I was indeed the voice of the “forgotten world” (Deaf people). Out of frustration I developed the love for poetry. I wrote about “born into a silent world”, “what have we done” poems and I would send them to local magazines and publishers to be published with the hope that the hearing communities will be aware of deafness and sign language. I entered one of my poems in the POWA (People opposing Women Abuse) Poem competition. My poems were inspired by my experiences.

I feel safer when I am around the people who understand me better and accept me the way I am. I alwaysemphasizethat information and knowledge ispower. We are living in the digital era and through this platform information could reach millions of people around the world. Knowing how to develop campaigns is the most vital skill and resource that one should have. I would say that is one of the skills I want to acquire!

http://jfactivist.typepad.com/jfactivist/2010/11/international-policy-development-aapd-hosts-south-african-fellow.html