Dubai Healthcare City and Kalimati Speech and Communication Centre announce ‘Hear Us Sign' Campaign

A customized truck with a built-in photo booth will travel across the emirates to promote social inclusion for the deaf community

Dubai, April [2], 2014: Each country has its own sign language and local culture. These cultural nuances are at the core of interacting with the deaf and those who are hard of hearing in the community.

To promote social inclusion, Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) in association with Kalimati Speech and Communication Centre announced the ‘Hear Us Sign’ road show campaign on April 2, 2014 at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academic Medical Centre (MBR-AMC).

For 10 days, residents in the UAE will have the opportunity to learn about the Emirati sign language. The campaign will see a customized truck with a built-in photo booth travel across four emirates, starting on Tuesday, April 8, 2014.

Kalimati, in collaboration with the UAE Deaf Association, is working with Think Up on this community outreach campaign - a first of its kind in the UAE. The campaign’s ambassador is Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi, who is the United Nations Ambassador at Large for the Arab and Gulf region.

As the truck makes its scheduled stops, residents from the community will be able to enter the purpose-built booth, sign a word, get photographed and learn about local sign language. The photos will be relayed on an integrated TV screen outside the truck.

The truck’s itinerary will conclude with the Conference titled ‘Hear My Voice – Empowering the Deaf’ on April 16-17, 2014, which will be held under the patronage and presence of his Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over five per cent of the world’s population - 360 million people - has disabling hearing loss. The body supports community-based rehabilitation networks and programmes.

Marwan Abedin, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Healthcare City, commented on the campaign: “Hearing impairment should not prevent an individual from leading a fulfilling life and from being recognized as an integrated member of the community. Raising awareness is key to overcoming the prejudice against any form of disability including hearing loss and deafness. The ‘Hear Us Sign’ Campaign will help address such barriers at many levels.”

Bedour Al Raqbani, Owner and Founder of Kalimati said: “I established the Kalimati Speech and Communication Centre to provide speech, language and communication services for children in need, especially the deaf and hard of hearing after discovering that my daughter was born deaf. Having experienced this first-hand, I cannot stress enough the importance of integration, education and vocational opportunities.”

The truck’s schedule is as follows:
• 8-9 April – Dubai
• 10-11 April - Fujairah
• 12 April – Al Ain
• 13 April – Dubai
• 14 April – Sharjah
• 15 April – Abu Dhabi
• 16-17 April – ‘Hear My Voice – Empowering the Deaf’ Conference

More information about the campaign and conference at www.kalimati.org