Srinagar, Oct : Born to a deaf and dumb mother, a teen aged Kashmiri girl has undertaken a mission to guide and train about 300 dumb and deaf students in various sports fields by her sign language skills.
Arwa Imtiyaz, a 12th class Arts student from uptown Nowgam area, is the lone Kashmiri girl guiding 300 deaf and dumb students voluntarily with her sign language skills during their training in different indoor and outdoor sports games of various kinds.
Talking to UNI, she said the interest to learn the sign language developed in me when I failed to converse with my deaf and dumb mother Rehana Imtiyaz.
‘’ And my mother too was sometimes getting confused and depressed when I could not interpret with her easily’’,she added.
‘’My Uncle Mohammad Saleem Wani and Aunt Gullshan Drabu who are both deaf and dumb are running a club for the past 15 years known as–All Jammu and Kashmir Sports Association– for the Deaf–children at Nowgam, became my instructors as I spent a long time staying with them to understand the language’’ , Arwa said adding My Aunty, who is general secretary of the association is being financed by the government, to run the institution.
She said, my Uncle and Aunt would take to the sports Association and stadium where I would consciously and keenly watch these lovely boys and girls as to how they used to interpret with them. “Some times it was hurting me a lot that these children could not speak and I decided to utilize myself for their service”, Arwa said.
“I was keenly watching them how they interpret with each other”, she said and added “ Their way of talking, actions, face emotions, and the way of understanding each other inspired me a lot”, she said.
“Initially I learnt sign language just to understand my mother, and to become her tongue, what she wants to convey to relatives and neighbors visiting our house at times”, Arwa said.
She said as I learn it with the help of my Uncle and Aunt by spending a lot of time with the specially abled children, it gradually became my dream and today I am their interpreter.
‘’Nobody in my home was able to speak with my mother and that was creating a lot of fuss in the family. Even I was not able to read the expression of my mother which sometimes was very painful for all family members”, she added.
‘’It is not only happening with my mother only, the families having such specially abled children who can not speak or hear face problems to understand them’’, Arwa said.
“I feel very happy when I convey something to my mother and she easily understands it and even I know her expression easily”, she said.
“ I gain a lot of interest in it day by day. “I want to be a graduate in sign language skill course”, Arwa said.
Arwa dreams to get higher education done in sign language and get a degree from School from Deaf and dumb either in Delhi or Bangalore.
Although she knows she is studying Arts subject and for doing a course in deaf and dumb she is ready to change her stream from Arts to Science in near future, provided given support by the authorities, taking into consideration her as a lone sign language interpreter in the Kashmir valley.
Arwa had accompanied deaf and dumb team players many a times to Jammu, Delhi and Chennai and honoured by the government many a times for her spontaneous gesture in providing help to the needy people through her sign language art.
The girl is giving more time to her studies and presently preparing to appear in 12th class examination being conducted in November in Kashmir valley.
She said, “I feel proud to be a part of these deaf and dumb children and voluntarily accompanying them where ever they had to go for events”.
Arwa said, parents of many such children approached me for help to teach sign language so that they could easily understand their especially abled wards.
“It is a divine service to mankind especially doing for these specially abled persons”. Arwa said and added “I feel gratitude to the Almighty that I have been selected for such a divine service”, she added.
She said the government should come forward for these children and provide all facilities. Although there is a lone school for the deaf and dumb in Solina area in Srinagar but more schools with state-of-the-art facilities as these children deserve should be established, Arwa demanded.
She said, “Not only in sports these children should be trained in other job oriented fields and avenues be set up in the schools for them, so that they can become independent in future”.
She said, these children are very witty and have a special sense to understand other people, but they need support from their families and government especially.
‘’These children need to be explored and shown other parts of the country so that they will naturally gain a sense to feel living comfortably’’ ,she added.(UNI)