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Deaf Reach Lends Helping Hand

Deaf Reach Lends Helping hand
 Newspaper reprint from Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad, June 27:

S Hari Hara Kumar walks across the dais and you hear nothing, not even a whisper. Turn around and see a sea of smiling faces, all with their hands in the air doing the "silent clap".

He means a lot to all the students of Deaf Reach, an organization of deaf youth working to empower deaf people. Kumar himself is mute and has dedicated a little of his time every day to teach the deaf.

He was awarded the Annie Sullivan Excellence award for teachers of the hearing impaired along with six other teachers on June 27 at a function organized by Deaf Reach.

The room was full of students of these seven teachers all "gesticulating" and conversing in their own sign language. Suvarna Lincoln, a retired teacher who worked for decades with the hearing and visually impaired said, "It is good to see all my students here, doing so well."

The Anne Sullivan awards were instituted three years back on the birthday of the former well- known student Helen Keller, who worked a lot for the hearing impaired and who herself was mute and blind.

The others to receive the awards were Rafath Sultana from the School for Partially Deaf Children, Shiva Rani from Sweekar Special School, Uma Patri from AMS, Government High School physical educator M Satyanarayana and K Vasanth Rao, a blind music teacher at the Helen Keller School for the Blind, Vizag.

"People think deaf people can't do a thing. We should remove the stigma from society. I will ask the government to increase the budgetary allocation for these handicapped people," said Mani Kumari, Minister of State for Tribal Welfare.

"There are only 478 schools for the deaf and dumb in the whole of India and but only 8,000 students are going to these schools. There are at least 1.5 million people who need the training in the country", JSK Rao, Chief Executive, Deaf Reach, told Deccan Chronicle.

There are hardly any trained teachers for the hearing impaired and students can study only up to Class X as there are no facilities for them to go beyond that.

There are only two colleges for the hearing and visually impaired in the whole country and these are very costly. "We could do with a little help from the government," said Rao.

Former Member of Legislative Assembly Christine Lazarus, Chairperson of Deaf Reach, hosted the event.