Meaning of Deaf Empowerment. Exploring Development and Deafness in Namibia

Meaning of Deaf Empowerment. Exploring Development and Deafness in Namibia

M.A. Thesis - Empowerment is a recent and a popular concept within international development studies which emphasizes people-centered approaches where the beneficiaries in developing countries are seen as active participants rather than merely being passive recipients of aid. The aim of this research is to explore the influence of development programs on empowerment of Deaf individuals based a fieldwork that took place in Namibia from September to October 2012 through the Centre for Communication and Deaf Studies (CCDS) in Windhoek. The focus was in part on a development project of the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) which was carried out in 2006-2010 in Namibia. The research followed participation observation with qualitative methodology based on interviews, conversations and interaction with the group of participants. The results suggest that despite some great improvements in field of deafness in Namibia, the fact remains that Deaf in Namibia are still excluded from education to a large extent. The educational system does not fully recognize the needs of Deaf pupils and the access to interpreters remains a barrier. It was concluded that despite the willingness among specialists in Namibia there is still a lack within the strict system of Namibia to allow for exceptions when it comes to put things in action. Nevertheless the results indicate that empowerment is an important concept for Deaf people in developing countries and projects can have long lasting empowering effects on individuals.

Iðunn Ása Óladóttir

http://skemman.is/en/item/view/1946/17925

University of Iceland

2014

© Iðunn Ása Óladóttir 2014

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