On Saturday, September 24, 2022, over hundred man strong army of Deaf and Hearing volunteers – lit up the Yaba axis of Lagos State in an awareness walk for the recognition of Sign Language and enlightenment on Deafness and Deaf persons.
The awareness walk, a joint effort between Collaborating Hands (CODAH) and SEAMS Consult was held in commemoration of this year’s International Day of Sign Language with theme: “Sign Languages Unite Us”. The global commemoration is held every September 23rd.
Ms Olatunji (right) presenting award of certificate to a participant
This year, CODAH, an NGO dedicated to promoting the linguistic identity of the Deaf community and creating a more inclusive society for all came up with it’s annual initiative to mobilize a walk for “Recognition of Sign Language”.
According to Rebecca Olatunji, Founder, CODAH, the idea is in consonance with the organization’s mission to provide essential training that can influence a more enabling environment for every deaf and hard of hearing person while fostering an integrated culture that enables awareness, exchange, and participation between the Deaf and Hearing community.
Earlier, Ms. Olatunji had called for active participation by all throughout the walk in order to achieve it’s end goal – advocate for Deaf persons and their language.
The campaigning foot soldiers, donning customized white and blue T- shirts set out from Jibowu Recreation Park at 11:20 am with placards, handbills, music, fanfare – and for more than two hours, trekked through Fadeyi, Onipanu, and Palm groove disseminating information, entertainment and more.
At each bus station during the walk, brief stops were made with a “Deaf Dance Crew”, led by Samuel James of SEAMS Consult thrilling onlookers with mesmerizing dance moves. Simultaneously, a lively DJ completed the fun with latest sound tracks by pop artistes.
The walk came to an end along Palm groove bus-stop by 2pm. Each participant was issued a certificate of participation and the organizers expressed gratitude to everyone whose presence made the campaign a success.
1 comment
The walk was amazing and enlightening.