Sheriffo & Momodou, two Deaf GADHOH staff, had been asked to do a presentation to us titled "GSL interpreting, what Deaf people would like interpreters to know."
Momodou started, introduced himself, and then without explanation told the four interpreters to leave the room. He shut the door.
Momodou wrote two words on the whiteboard - NATIONAL ANTHEM.
One at a time he brought the interpreters in to face the whiteboard. Then he turned them around to us and told them to sign it. (Note the spelling)
One by one, the interpreters came in, tried, and gave up, not knowing the words. (Apparently the Gambian National Anthem is very long)
Once the last interpreter sat down, Momodou explained what it felt like to be a Deaf person at a presidential event, standing with everyone else to sing the National Anthem, and then - just standing, watching mouths move whilst people sing. Present but excluded.
Momodou said that the interpreters needed to know the National Anthem so that rather than just sing along they could all interpret it for the Deaf people present at presidential addresses.
And then he thanked them.
With a simple example, and 30 seconds of teaching, Momodou demonstrated what it felt like as a Deaf person to be excluded, told the interpreters that their professional role was to prevent that from happening, and thanked them, assuming that they now understood.
They did.
Momodou started, introduced himself, and then without explanation told the four interpreters to leave the room. He shut the door.
Momodou wrote two words on the whiteboard - NATIONAL ANTHEM.
One at a time he brought the interpreters in to face the whiteboard. Then he turned them around to us and told them to sign it. (Note the spelling)
One by one, the interpreters came in, tried, and gave up, not knowing the words. (Apparently the Gambian National Anthem is very long)
Once the last interpreter sat down, Momodou explained what it felt like to be a Deaf person at a presidential event, standing with everyone else to sing the National Anthem, and then - just standing, watching mouths move whilst people sing. Present but excluded.
Momodou said that the interpreters needed to know the National Anthem so that rather than just sing along they could all interpret it for the Deaf people present at presidential addresses.
And then he thanked them.
With a simple example, and 30 seconds of teaching, Momodou demonstrated what it felt like as a Deaf person to be excluded, told the interpreters that their professional role was to prevent that from happening, and thanked them, assuming that they now understood.
They did.
Momodou's 30 seconds - 15 above, 15 below. I've been told the videos posted from The Gambia don't always play. But they do sometimes. Worth persisting. It's beautiful.
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