A DESIRE to communicate with a childhood friend who was deaf changed Earlwaine Cumberbatch’s life forever, and for the better.
Ensuring that he learnt sign language and going on to being an advocate for members of the hearing impaired community has brought much satisfaction to Cumberbatch over the past 30 years.
When he decided to learn sign language, he never thought he would eventually be teaching it to others.
He told the DAILY NATION it all started in his early teens.
“I used to play football right in front of a guy that was deaf . . . So then I asked my mother if she would allow me to bring him by us,” Cumberbatch
“He was a student of the School for the Deaf and while he stayed with us for about six months, I used to see him with the books with the sign language and I started to learn a little bit.”
Sign language
This propelled Cumberbatch to sign on for a class in sign language, which started out with 30 people but ended up with him being the only one. But he was undaunted and got his church, the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist (SDA), involved.
“I decided that with this gift I should do more to help the deaf community. I only knew one deaf person, so I went to him with a survey sheet to find out what the deaf would like, what are they talents and abilities and how I could help,” he said.
After he collated the information, the first thing he did was to rent two buses at Christmastime and host a picnic for members of that community.
As a result, Reach Out Deaf Ministries was formed and through this initiative, Cumberbatch organised tours, social activities, camps and trips across the Caribbean for the deaf.
He introduced some of his students to his church and as their numbers grew, the Adventists launched their ministry for the hearing-impaired.
Rewarding
The growth and success of the programme is evident in the number of people with hearing difficulties attending the church, but more rewarding is that one preaches and signs at the same time and others serve as deacons and deaconesses.
Outside of the church, Cumberbatch uses his sign language skills in a variety of ways, including ministering at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, interpreting in the law courts and mediating in disputes between families.
“A lot of times the parents of the deaf do not know sign language and therefore how to solve problems or quarrels between them,” he said.
Each Saturday after church, Earlwaine Cumberbatch has classes with some of the deaf members of the congregation.
“For some reason, a lot of parents do not know and they make the mistake of not learning it when the child is learning. So when the child gets to be a young adult, when they are having problems they rush and learn and by then there is the barrier there and that is problematic for the relationship.”
He is heartened by the improvements of the deaf members of society, noting they used to be shy to use sign language in public, but do so now with greater confidence.
“We encourage them not be ashamed. It is their language and they should feel free to be out there using it.”
Cumberbatch, who is certified at the advanced level in sign language and has done classes for interpreters, is not done learning in this area. He said the same way new words were being added to the English language, it was the same with sign language.
However, he is more interested in seeing greater educational opportunities and communication devices for the deaf.
“Things have been slow. In the Caribbean there is the need to do more in relation of education because you will find that the education level of an 11-year-old deaf person may be at the level of a four-year-old hearing person,” he said.
He is worried that deaf students will continue to lag, especially if their households are not facilitating the learning process. He also laments that deaf children do not have the opportunity to take the Common Entrance Exam and Caribbean Examinations Council examinations, or to pursue educational pursuits like other members of society.
Cumberbatch said the students remained at the Irving Wilson School until about age 16, then leave with little prospects of having a job outside of working in a cleaning firm or supermarket, where several members of the deaf community have been able to find jobs.
“A lot of them are smart and quick and as long as you are able to tap into that, they will learn. It is just there is not the reading material that is adapted to them, so they are at a disadvantage.”
While he praised the use of captions for the hearing impaired and sign language during the CBC-TV Evening News, he said there were downsides in society which were of great concern.
“When you go to a deaf person’s house, there are no warning systems in place,” he said, adding that notices should be mandatory.
Given that the deaf are now doing much more on their own than before, Cumberbatch is suggesting that businesses ensure some of their staff learn sign language, since some of their patrons are deaf.
He highlighted instances where he has had to go into fast food restaurants, for example, to interpret for members of the deaf community. He warned that this lack of communication could cause frustration, especially for the deaf person.
“Just something as simple as that can make a difference to them. They need to be cared for too,” he said.
