116 Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning
adults report having had to work in the household or on the farm “as a slave.” The
semantic framework of causality that explains deafness and disability in cosmological
or magical terms (e.g., as a manifesta tion of witchcraft) and often casts the entire fam-
ily in a negative light (see also Mekang, 2007; Nsamenang, 1992; Shey, 2003) when a
child is born deaf or becomes deaf is one of the reasons for the exclusion of deaf peo-
ple. Nsamenang (1992) refers to poverty, hunger, ignorance, disease, and exploitation
as reasons for why parents may not be able to meet the needs of their children.
I incorporated the question “How can Cameroonian deaf people develop?” into
my re search because the theme of development is often discussed in deaf commu-
nity gath erings. The variety of responses I received can be placed on a continuum of
self-esteem and of hope. Some deaf adults have internalized negative perceptions of
deaf people, such as “My mind is blank... I know nothing”; “I only went to school
for 3 years... I’m only a little bit smart”; “Hearing people develop... Deaf people
are low”; and “No, there are no success ful deaf people in Cameroon.” Other deaf
people, especially those who are or were enrolled in secondary education, have
more positive and hopeful perspectives, such as “Deaf people are smart... We can
do many things”; “It’s a long way for development, but God is there”; and “I must
show hearing people that I can be successful.”
A process of emancipation has begun, particularly in young deaf people with the
experience of secondary education. This is illustrated by the interview with the young
man at the beginning of this chapter. He disagreed with his mother, who wanted
him to stop going to school because of a lack of financial resources. Rancière (1999,
2009) uses the notions of subjectivation and disagreement to refer to this process
of protesting against a given social position. This process can only start from the
assumption of equality. The young man also noticed that European and American
people seem to have enough money to fly to other countries and have some knowl-
edge about how to organize more educational opportunities for deaf people, but
somehow seem to lack the money or the courage to support changes in Cameroon.
The concept of critical consciousness articulated by Freire (2005)^11 refers to the
process of becoming aware of contrasts in social, political, and economic structures
and standing up against op pression. Although there has been no collective action
so far in Cameroon, deaf Cam eroonians do not “sleep.” They discuss and imagine
approaching the government by marching or writing letters. The Internet provides
an inspiring course on developments in other countries for deaf people in Camer-
oon who can access it and for whom the information is accessible (the Internet is
not yet widely available to deaf Cameroonians); some deaf adults are also inspired
by their past educational experi ences in Nigeria.
The kind of self-advocacy expressed by the young man in the interview is not
ex ceptional. Because the limited financial resources of households tend to go to
hearing children first and deaf schools are private, attendance at a deaf school is
often some thing that has to be fought for (and this is also done by deaf children).
Forms of adult education such as literacy, vocational and entrepreneurial training,
teacher training, and access to advanced education are high among the needs of
the deaf community.- For Freire’s critical pedagogy and the emergence of deaf awareness, also see Chapter 3.