Prime
Ubos deploys sign language interpreters
Enumerators count travelers along Jinja Road in Busia Town as the census exercise started shortly after midnight on May 10, 2024. PHOTO/DAVID AWORI
People with hearing impairment have raised concerns saying they have been left out in the ongoing census exercise due to lack of sign language interpreters.
Mr Martin Eramio, a resident of Kibira B in Makindye-Ssabagabo, who has a hearing impairment, said he was unable to communicate with Uganda Bureau of Statistic (Ubos) staff who went to his home to enumerate his family on Wednesday.
However, when the enumerators informed her supervisor, the team returned with a sign language interpreter yesterday and successfully enumerated Mr Eramio’s family of four members with a hearing impairment.
Mr Eramio, speaking through a sign language interpreter, Mr Herbert Kyeswa, said: “We have been staying here patiently waiting for people to enumerate us but yesterday (Wednesday), we were surprised when the enumerator counted our neighbours and left us out.”
Ms Allen Naluwooza, another person with hearing impairment in the same household, said there could be other people facing the same challenge. She asked the government to provide sign language interpreters so that such people are not left out during the exercise.
They also asked the government to provide interpreters in hospitals, schools and other service centres so that persons with hearing impairment can easily get the services without the difficulty of communication.
“The government should provide sign language interpreters because communication is our challenge as people with hearing impairment,” Mr Eramio said.
Ms Harriet Kisakye, the area enumerator, said she had a challenge of enumerating the household because she doesn’t know sign language.
“I found it challenging because we spoke different languages. They used sign language and I didn’t understand it. I had to leave and inform my supervisor about it,” Ms Kisakye said.
Ms Betty Nawoova, the district cencus commissioner representative for Makindye-Ssabagabo Division, asked the enumerators to report such cases to the supervisors so that people with hearing impairment are not left out.
“This household is unique in a way that we did not have any person to speak on their behalf. But my humble request is, if there is any other household that doesn’t have an interpreter within the household, I would recommend the enumerator to speak out so that they get an interpreter because they were trained on such scenarios,” Ms Nawoova said.
However, she noted that they have not reported any other case of this kind, saying most people with hearing impairment live with other people who will help to give information to enumerators.
