UNDERSTANDING the nature of the challenges faced by people with hearing problems when they have to communicate with others who are not, is what encouraged Ms. Londeka Bawathu to continue her education at a higher level, studying social work.
Mrs. Phakathi is one of the students who graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday, graduating with a Bachelor of Social Work degree, which she said she did because she intends and wishes to encourage others who come after her to be passionate about higher education.
He said he is now looking to work on the qualifications he already has to participate in helping people who are deaf and who use sign language in addition to South African Sign Language (SASL), to help them not be locked out.
“Since I am one of the people who use this method of communication to talk or talk to other people, I have seen how many challenges they face in society, that made me wish to bring about a change in that,” he said.
Continuing, he revealed that this journey was not easy for him – what helped was the intervention of his teachers, SASL translators and the university body that helps students living with disabilities, UKZN’s Disability Support Unit.
“My colleagues also helped me a lot to make this trip a success, it made me able to face the challenges involved in another course I was doing for research, which required me to use unfamiliar methods of understanding what is being studied, such as using videos and pictures to understand what is being studied, asking questions and working closely with translators to understand what is needed,” he said.
He said he is interested in working with agencies and organizations that care for deaf people to help them get the same and equal opportunities, and to help them develop and not be locked out of the things and opportunities they need.