Work on new centre for the deaf nears completion |01 September 2020
. Some services to be operational as from this month
Work to refurbish the ex-Maritime School at Mont Fleuri to transform it into a centre for the deaf, the first of its kind here, is nearing completion and some services to be offered there will be operational as of September this month.
Work to transform the three-storey building into the centre for the deaf where all the facilities for deaf people including the school now based at Au Cap will be transferred, started late last year after a long delay.
The Association for People with Hearing Impairment (Aphi) received a grant of US $84,306 (approximately R1.035m) under the Japanese Grant of Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project to carry out the refurbishment after it was allocated the three-storey building by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.
The contract for the grant was signed in March 2018.
Meeting with the chairperson of the Aphi, Anita Gardner, yesterday afternoon to visit the centre, Ms Gardner said she is very satisfied with the progress made to transform the building.
She said after the contractor had carried out all the heavier work, every Saturday members of the association as well as students come to give a helping hand to paint the different rooms, bring in the furniture, help clean and repair their old furniture and help out with other finishing touches as well as in any other way required.
Apart from the school, all the services and facilities the deaf people require, the centre will also include dormitories able to house six male and six females at one time, a guest room with its required amenities, a sick bay, an exhibition area, a kitchen and dining area, a small open verandah among other facilities.
Ms Gardner said the dormitories will be used mostly when Praslin and La Digue participants come to Mahé to take part in classes and other activities as well as when the association organises holiday camps.
The centre will also have a small garden and spacious area outside.
“We are really very happy that soon the Aphi will be able to operate and provide the services the deaf community require in a conducive environment,” Ms Gardner said.
Seychelles has an estimated 1,000 deaf people of different ages and they will soon have an ideal place to meet, study and access all the related quality services and programmes adapted to their condition.
In the name of the deaf community in Seychelles, Ms Gardner has expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Japanese government, the ministry of education and all the faithful sponsors who are helping in different ways so that the centre becomes operational.
The accompanying photos show work in progress to refurbish the centre.
Marie-Anne Lepathy
Photos: Anel Robert/Anita Gardner
