(Seychelles News Agency) – Seychellois deaf community campaigner Anita Gardner has dedicated her life for the last 17 years to working with people with hearing impairments.
She set up the Association for People with Hearing Impairment (APHI) in 2005 to cater to the needs of hearing-impaired Seychellois.
Her latest project is translating songs and poems into sign language.
SNA met with Gardner to learn more about her journey in this noble endeavour.
SNA: Tell us about yourself.
AG: I am married with a son. I grew up at the tea factory at Morne Blanc, on the property itself. My father was among the first to work at the tea company since it opened. Growing up in such an environment meant that I love nature a lot and I am strict when it comes to cleanliness. I love listening to music, especially jazz, instrumental and as of late I have been singing in sign language. This is one of the works I am doing actually – translating songs and poems.
I attended school at St Paul and once zoning was introduced, I went to Mont Fleuri school. When my parents separated, I had to go to Port Glaud for the last years of my secondary school studies. Since I was a child, I have always loved challenges. I didn’t attend post-secondary as I am a more practical kind of person – I always knew I would be doing charity work, even as a child. At school, you would have found me with the less popular kids. I started working at a young age and one of the first jobs I did during the weekend was with the social worker in the district.
SNA: How did your journey with the hearing-impaired start?
AG: Throughout my life, I have tried quite a few things but I always knew that it wasn’t what I wanted. Years back, sign language caught my attention but I placed it in a little box in my head with the intention to come back to it. I went on to establish my own business, but I knew I was meant to be somewhere else.
It all happened on a trip to South Africa. I was supposed to come back to Seychelles after a month that is the maximum time I could say in South Africa. For 24 hours, I crossed the border to Namibia and then went back to South Africa. I linked up with a group of people with hearing impairments and I realised that this is what I was looking for.
Everything fell into place and I opened that little box I had tucked away inside my head. The exposure in South Africa was a very positive one – some of the hearing-impaired individuals I met had their own businesses and could read, …….