Ajay

Deaf Guyanese boy Ajay's mother told a story about him. Summer 2006

Ajay Ramjass will be 14 years olds in September of this year. He was born deaf. As a small child he had surgery to remove a cataract from his left eye. The surgery left him blind in that eye. Ajay has a brother Zack, who is one year younger than him. The boys are being raised by their mother Veta Singh. (Their father is a heavy drinker and has over the years, treated Veta and the boys very badly. He does not contribute financially to the support of his sons.)

Veta and her sons are living with Veta’s mother and step-father in No.73 Village, Upper Corentyne, Guyana. Veta is looking for a property in the village to rent as her mother’s house is very small. Since November 2005 Veta has been employed as a cleaner at the sugar company (Guysuco) at Skeldon which is approximately six villages (six miles) away from her home. Ajay spends his time with his grandmother at home, visiting folks from his church and playing cricket when the other village children come home from school. He has not attended formal government school since he left Primary School two years ago. His jobs at home include helping his grandmother look after the ducks and chickens and the vegetable garden. Ajay enjoys repairing bicycles. An older man in the church has taught him how to strip and put back together bikes and he has a good knack for this. Maybe it is a skill that will help he earn money when he is older.

At the age of 4 years Ajay attended the local government Nursery School. This was not too difficult for him to cope with as it was fun for him to colour in and be with other young children. Veta said “he would just copy and colour but he was happy there”. From the age of 7-11 he attended the local government Primary School. This was a terribly traumatic time for him and for his mother. For the first two years he did not want to go to school. The children beat him and took his pencils and books from him. Veta went to school with Ajay every day; sometimes she had to stay for the half the day. He would often come home from school with no cap, no bag, and no books because the other children bullied him so badly. When his younger brother, Zack, started school things became a little better for Ajay as he could play with Zack at recess. During the last two years of Primary School, he began to enjoy it more as he made a few friends.

Ajay

Jennifer met Ajay during his last year at school when he was eleven years old. He did not pass his end-of-Primary School exam (Common Entrance) so there was no Secondary placement for him. In effect he had received no education at all because in the government schools there is no provision whatsoever for children with special needs. Teachers are not professionally equipped with the skills and there are no resources for particular needs. The nearest Special Needs School with a provision for deaf pupils is one and half hours away by minibus, a journey that would cost GU$1800 return for his mum and him each day. This is more than the daily wage of a cleaner. Ajay just occupied a seat in the classroom and copied from the blackboard not understanding any of it.

Jennifer was a newcomer to Guyana in 2004, accompanying her husband who is Construction Manager for a new sugar factory in Skeldon. Jennifer and her husband became members of the church in No.73 Village and Jennifer began to teach Sunday school. Ajay was in her class. She was concerned to see that this young boy had no form of communication and that he was illiterate. Jennifer asked Veta is she and Ajay and his (hearing) brother Zack would like to learn American Sign Language (ASL – the sign language used in Guyana). They were so excited and eager to begin, that Jennifer, teaching ASL to herself from books, began to meet with them once a week in their home in April 2004. Soon the Sunday school children heard of the ‘class’ and asked if it could be held at the church so they could learn with Ajay.

The class at church, also held after school once a week, began with about 15 children plus Ajay, Veta and Jennifer. It has grown to 25 children plus Bibi also a Sunday school teacher as an additional helper with a very strong interest in learning and teaching ASL. All the children apart from Ajay are hearing and wish to learn ASL in order to be able to communicate with him. The class now incorporates a developing literacy programme as reading levels are below what would be expected for many children in Guyana. Ajay is now able to sign, read and write his own name, and with help, he can read and sign the decodable books used for the literacy programme. In all his years at school he was not even taught to recognise or write his name.

Jennifer found the biggest hurdle to overcome was getting Ajay to respond. He had spent all those years in classrooms where a response was never required of him. She knew that Ajay understood his new language but he just sat, taking it all in, but not using it himself.

Then Janis (the VSO Literacy volunteer with the Department of Education in the same Region) introduced Ashton and Steve to this little ‘Sign School’ as they call themselves.

The day these two young British VSOs came to meet Ajay was the day that still fills his mother’s eyes with tears when she speaks of it. That day a light went on in Ajay’s life. He began to speak to Ashton and Steve in sign language and he has not looked back. For the first time in his life he had role models to look up to: young men who were just like him! His mother recalls how his little chest puffed out when he stood next to them. They made him feel proud of himself, gave him courage, confidence and a hope for the future. They gave the same things to his mother.

Ashton teachs ASL to Ajay and hearing children

Ashton and Steve became Ajay’s friends, his buddies. They tried to visit the class from their base in Georgetown, once a month. This is a 5 hour minibus journey with a ferry crossing half way. When Ajay knew they were coming he bathed and put on his best ‘church’ clothes – their visit was so special to him.

Jennifer has seen the progress he is making and has told Ashton and Steve what a wonderful thing they have given Ajay in making time in their schedule to travel that distance, to help and encourage him; also to help and encourage her as she learns ASL in order to teach the children.

Ashton and Steve said they were amazed that Ajay’s community, all of his Sunday school friends, aged from 5 – 14 years, were learning with him. They have never seen anything like that before. That did not realise the extent of the impact they had had not only on Ajay’s life, but on his mother and the community.

Ashton and Steve leave Guyana in August and this little ‘Sign School’ is hoping that two the new VSOs for the deaf, who will arrive in Guyana in September, will be able to continue to support them with monthly visits. They appreciate the input and sense of ‘belonging’ to a wider deaf community that this link has given them. Maybe the ‘Sign School’ can even have their own VSO for the deaf!

Bibi and some of the children want to learn more ASL so they can teach ASL and become translators. They have been learning from Jennifer but they could attend a course in Georgetown, or a trained ASL teacher could come and do a course in Region 6. Another person that influenced Bibi and some of the hearing children (especially Shaminie and Sherifa who are both 11), was Monty: the Guyanese ASL / English interpreter who accompanied Ashton and Steve on their first visit from Georgetown. Teachers from the local government schools could also receive professional training in how to cater for children in their classes who are deaf or who have other special educational needs.

Jennifer and Veta hope that deaf children currently ‘hidden’ in the community and their parents will come to the ‘Sign School’ and learn to sign and communicate and read and write. Some parents are put off bringing the children because the classes are held in a Christian church building. There is in fact, a 9 year old deaf boy in the same village whose parents are Hindu and they don’t want go into the Christian building. Ajay has taken it upon himself to teach this younger boy the sign language that he has already learnt. Ajay has an overwhelming gentleness and concern for others. He is always aware if someone is hurting. This is an extraordinary character trait for a boy who has had so much going against him.

Ajay's families & friends

The Sign School will now be meeting at Bibi’s house, but they hope to find a new venue soon and to invite the local TV station to come and do a news report. Publicity about the class will hopefully bring more deaf children and their parents forward to join the class and enable them to experience the joy and pride in communicating and the sense of ‘belonging’ that Ajay has experienced.

Ajay’s mother sums this feeling up the best: “Ajay is the happiest boy when he knows today is the day Ashton and Steve are coming to the ‘Sign School’!” Everyone is excited about the prospect of their ‘Sign School’ growing bigger and providing opportunities for persons in this part of Guyana who are deaf.