“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
–Maya Angelou
The deeds and kindness of Rev. (Dr.) Andrew Jackson would never be forgotten. Not among the community of the Deaf in Nigeria and African countries. Certainly not in the academia of Special Education. Humanely speaking, Reverend Foster was, and remains of the foremost figures in the social-spiritual welfare and the education of the Deaf -many decades after the ill-fated plane crash that took his life in a fight to Rwanda.
Andrew Foster was an incredible individual, and this moment, we honour the life of a true hero.
The thoughts of Andrew Foster had overwhelmed the mind of this writer, and as a consequence, an article is created in honour and memory of Andrew Foster. But an attempt is also made to introduce and familiarize this iconic man to the people in and outside of the Deaf community who have had little or no knowledge about the late missionary to the Deaf.
We wanted you to know that not that not only were there people who wanted to leave the community better than they found it, but that there was a particular person- a man of tremendous intellect with a deep sense of godliness and humanity who wanted nothing but a decent social and spiritual life for the Deaf.
Andrew Foster did not just want to educate the Deaf, he wanted us to know and to have a relationship with our Creator. There’s never been anyone like him.
Early Life and Education
Andrew Jackson Foster was born in June 1925. A little over ten years later, as a consequence of spinal meningitis, Andrew and his younger brother Edward became deaf. Education for the deaf, was, at the time, hard and very little opportunities for African Americans in that era prevented him from achieving more than a primary school education. But the doggedness and determination of young Foster enabled him to get a high school education.
In 1954, Andrew Foster became the first Deaf African American to earn a bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University and the first Deaf African American to earn a master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University both in the United States of America.
Mission and Accomplishments
The circumstance of how Andrew Foster began his illustrious career in the education of the Deaf is a very interesting one. Inspired by his own personal travails, including his eventual triumphs, Foster was convinced that educating the deaf was the single greatest channel to enable the Deaf to commit their ways to Christ. Foster wanted to accomplish two things with the Deaf: educate the Deaf and consequently bring them to Christ.
Driven and motivated to work with the Deaf, Andre Foster began to travel wide and wild to various African countries in a bid to provide education to the Deaf and to commit their ways to Christ. He would begin to enter African nations, including Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria soliciting for classrooms to teach the deaf.
At an era when there was no single educational provision for the Deaf, African parents who had deaf children would enroll their kids in the care of Andrew Foster. And within months, schools had high waiting lists of families wanting to send their deaf children to his school. As the deaf became more educated and literate, Foster would supplement their education with vocational skills and the Gospel. churches and missions were also convinced to by Foster to expand their ministry to include the deaf.
Legacy and Death
However, Dr. Foster’s legacy extends far beyond his role of the patriarch of one of the largest “disabled nations”- the Deaf Communities. He was a true people person and wanted nothing but a life of dignity and decency for the Deaf communities across Africa.
Among Andrew Foster’s greatest accomplishments was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental need of the Deaf for meaningful livelihood and divine fulfillment.
Andrew Jackson Foster will be forever remembered for his strong devotion to the spiritual and educational welfare of the deaf, both areas of which he dedicated his life until his death in 1987.