In Laos, like elsewhere, deaf persons face communication barriers and lack of access to education.  On a personal level, they lack the communication skills to develop relationships with family and community members.  They also have limited awareness and understanding of issues and are not able to make good decisions that affect their lives. The AFD is the only non-profit association in Laos working to meet the needs of the deaf community. AFD focuses on the provision of sign language education to support meeting the basic needs of the deaf community and individuals by empowering them to communicate with their families, community members and service providers. The project Empowerment for the Deaf Community supports the development of knowledge and skills of the members of the AFD as well as contribute to the growth of the community of deaf youth in Laos. As the AFD is capable of providing quality services for its members, the association will attract new members and will be able to benefit from membership fees to continue its mission in Laos. The project is implemented in three provinces. In each province, beneficiaries come from multiple districts around the main provincial capitals of Vientiane, Pakse and Savannakhet cities. The key objectives are:

1. Youth members with deafness have improved participation in social and economic activities as a result of improved communication.
2. To establish provincial representatives of AFD in 2 provinces (Savannakhet and Champassak).

  All deaf members of the AFD in 03 provinces who are facing difficulties and lacking of opportunities in accessing to trainings; these members are also facing difficulties in access to information due to their limited education, sign language skills and lack of supportive technologies. The development target in them will help protect their rights and improve their livelihood, create safe environment and be able to contribute to the social and economic development.

“I am delighted to see the poster with sign language, it makes me interested in reading and clear understanding of pregnancy healthcare.” Ms. Bounlord, Deaf member in Vientiane. 

The above quote from a rightsholder of the “Empowerment for youth with deafness in Lao PDR” by the Association for the Deaf (AFD) represents the key result of this project, which has been about empowerment – not only for the People with Disabilities (PWD), but for their parents as well. The project’s empowering effects changed the perspectives of a total of 61 people (36 women), of which 52 were deaf people aged between 8 and 43 years. 

Limited access to information due to limited education, sign language skills and lack of supportive technologies further exacerbate the daily challenges that PWD face already. Under the aegis of the project, the Deaf members received information and gained a better understanding of how to care for pregnant mothers and learnt of the rights of deaf people. Within a year of its implementation, the AFD team observed that this assistance enabled deaf persons in the community to become more active in family gatherings. The project has resulted in a ripple effect to reach those outside the AFD team, and the intervention led to action by the local authorities. The project has received support from the local authorities and a request to expand project activities which has enabled the project to reach more rightsholders groups and allowed the use of empty rooms of a special school to conduct project activities free of charge.

Moreover, the project’s key activities enhanced the empowerment and cooperation among the deaf people association:  

• • • Parents of deaf members are now happier to encourage their children to get out and participate in events with deaf friends and organisations. 
    • Deaf people’s family members are now more interested in learning sign language and communicating with their children or siblings. 
    • Deaf persons can communicate and understand more advanced sign language words in their daily lives.
      

The key activities were:  

• • • Lao sign language advocacy by developing posters; 
    • Sign language translation to key information; 
    • Information session on PWD rights; 
    • How to communicate with deaf people; and 
  • • How to act appropriately when meeting deaf individuals for the first time. 

Deaf individuals have become more inclusively engaged with family activities, as family members have become more open, trusting, and willing to enable their children to participate in activities with the AFD group every weekend. It has brought AFD closer to its ultimate impact goal: Youth members with deafness have improved participation in social and economic activities because of improved communication. Reaching this development target will help them to protect their rights, to improve their livelihoods, to create safe environments for themselves, and to contribute to the social and economic development around them. 

What is leadership as defined by people with disabilities?  

The responses of PWD of all genders and ages revealed that they as well as their families have grown more empowered because of their capacity to read, communicate, and understand more advanced sign language terms in everyday life. In addition, their family and friends have expressed an interest in learning sign language to communicate with them more effectively.