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by Flora Karambu, Coordinator, Maua CHIC
This month we were privileged to have clients with a variety of disabilities. First, we had the honor to host a young hearing impaired man. It was challenging to explain to him about our center. We used sign language, which is new to us, to communicate our message. We also tried to improvise the sign language. Fortunately, our client was literate. We gave him the CD summaries and he went through them with our assistance. He became interested in the CD on HIV/AIDS and he went through the information with a lot excitement. It was difficult to know if we were communicating effectively so we were not sure whether or not he was getting the maximum from the center. But as he was leaving, he wrote in the comment book that had really benefited. He has made repeat visits.
Another young man who was visually impaired also visited the center. He was a teacher at a school for the blind and who is currently in college for further studies. Communicating with him proved more challenging than the first visitor. In this case, we read through the CD summaries after we explained our operations. Then he chose to access CD number eight on Hepatitis. We again read the contents aloud. Then he said he felt the information was not elaborate. We took him through CD forty-seven on Hepatitis B. He also was interested in the CD-ROM on Books, Booze and Student Stress. Again someone had to read through the CD contents. Finally, he asked for the information on tobacco. At the end, our client said he had enjoyed the information and found it very educational. But he noted that the information on student stress was not adequate and that it was not clear to a beginner who didn't know the definition of stress. He promised to visit again and he requested to bring his brailer so that he could take notes.
We asked him what he thought should be done to make it easier for visually impaired people and other disabled people to access the information. He suggested that we install an embosser, which he told us, is an instrument which, when installed in a computer, changes print literature into brail. This machine requires special brail computer paper. He said this would make it easier for the blind to access the information. He said that an alternative to this would be a kurzweil, which he said, is a reading machine that instead of showing print literature reads the sound aloud. But he said the cost of these machines could be a bit high. Our client told us that he could not talk much for the requirements of people with other disabilities because every disability is unique and requires unique attention. But he suggested raised chairs for those with disabilities of the limbs. He was grateful to the staff for the attention that he was given. As we parted, we felt that we had learned from him just as much as he had learned from us. And true to his promise, he has been making repeat visits to our center. He has been asking for any available information on research done about khat (miraa), a drug grown in the area and sold to many parts of the world.
We also had the opportunity to serve a well-known commercial sex worker. She had come to the hospital and as she went around one of us spotted her and invited her to the center. She agreed to access the information on condition that it was free. She was excited to hear that there was no charge for learning at the center. She wanted to learn about HIV/AIDS. As she was taken through the CD images, she came across symptoms that many of her friends were experiencing. She acknowledged that those who were engaged in unselected (and unprotected) sex were at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. She said she would bring along one of her friends who presently had a condition similar to one on the images. She promised to bring her friends to the center "to see for themselves." Though we are not sure whether or not she brought the sick friend to hospital, she kept her word and came with two friends the following day. We are doing our best to ensure that she keeps in touch and continues to bring others like her to access the health information with a view of changing their behavior.
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