Japan to fund new centre for the deaf |19 March 2018

Deaf people in Seychelles will soon have their own centre thanks to a grant of approximately R1.035m under the Japanese Grant of Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project.

The centre will be based at the former maritime school at Mont Fleuri which will be refurbished. It will be the first of its kind here where all modern facilities for deaf people will be located.

Once completed the centre will cater for some estimated 1,000 deaf people in Seychelles. It will be an ideal place to meet, study and have access to all the quality services and programmes related to their impairment.

The government of Japan’s assistance to support grassroots projects was first initiated here in 2015 and to date two projects on Praslin have benefited from the grant.

It was late last year that the Association for People with Hearing Impairment (Aphi) through Ceps (Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles) submitted its project proposal to receive financial support from the Japanese grant project.

In a short ceremony on Friday morning at the English River Youth Centre, the chairperson of Aphi Anita Gardner and Yui Takashima, head of the Grant Project and second secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Kenya signed the contract for the grant.

This followed the signing by Narasimhan Ramani, a chartered accountant designated by the Japanese embassy to oversee all financial transactions of the project.

Work is expected to start next month and as per the contract it will be completed by the end of the year. The centre will open its doors early next year.

Friday’s ceremony was witnessed by the chief executive of Ceps Michel Pierre, project coordinator from the embassy of Japan in Kenya, Rita Musyimi, a group of deaf pupils, their teachers and a group of parents.

Expressing her heartfelt gratitude to the government and people of Japan, Ms Gardner assured them that once the facility is refurbished and works are completed, it will be put to good use by the deaf community of Seychelles.

“The deaf people will be able to access programmes and services specially designed for them and the centre will aim to attract researchers and other interested persons who wish to give a helping hand,” Ms Gardner pointed out.

Ms Gardner admits that there remains the big task of furnishing the facility once work is completed and is calling on business organisations and companies to consider this as part of their CSR contributions to improve the lives of the disabled in our society.

Interested parties who want to make a contribution can call the Aphi on Tel: 2749791/4610378 .

Ms Takashima on her part said it is always a pleasure for the embassy of Japan to be associated with such wonderful project initiatives which will make remarkable differences in the lives of groups of people with special needs.

Shana David, a young deaf lady and teacher at the school for the deaf, thanked the Japanese embassy on behalf of the deaf community.

She said with the centre access to services and programmes will be easier as all will be under the same roof.

She called on all deaf people including those on Praslin and La Digue to make use of the services once the centre is ready.

It is to be noted that since its launch in 2005 the Aphi has been operating in a small space in the Victoria Market.