Challenge of “Serious” Scholarship 117
Many deaf adults experience their restricted access to information and oppor-
tunities for learning as frustrating and limiting. Although most deaf adults are not
aware of it, Cameroon does have an enabling legal framework of antidiscrimination
legislation, as well as legislation in alignment with the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. However, these laws are not implemented
(Mekang, 2007; Pouagam, 2000; Titjani, 2008; Yuh & Shey, 2008).
Cameroonian deaf people complain that corruption keeps CANAD and the gov-
ernment asleep. Observation during the training associated with the Human Rights
and Capacity Building Training Project in western and central Africa revealed a
lack of knowledge on the part of CANAD board members of how to advocate for
sign language recognition, interpreting, quality deaf education, teacher training,
and other needs. The training emphasized practices of collaboration, information
sharing, and transparency in working toward the common goal of development of
all deaf Cameroo nians. The training inspired CANAD to take action—in forms that
may have an impact in the near future. Another criticism of CANAD in the deaf
community was the lack of information sharing by the board with the larger deaf
community.
Before the WFD training, there had been hardly any transnational knowledge trans-
fer of deaf cultural rhetoric or of alternative life trajectories in Cameroon, but con-
cepts of “deaf can” and human rights have started to be distributed. The WFD’s train-
ing provided the first exposure for most participants and seems to have contrib uted
to raising awareness. The WFD strongly encouraged the transfer of the contents of the
training by CANAD board members to the broader deaf com munity.
However, because of limited financial resources, unfortunately this objective can-
not be realized within the project. It is the responsibility of CANAD and the partic-
ipants in the training, who seem to have taken initiatives in this direction. Sharing
knowledge about advocacy and the workings of a deaf association, including how to
bring about a new constitution and elections, may be key to the development of a
participatory and democratic deaf community.
Although structural changes are needed, transfer of the contents of the WFD
training and positive action by CANAD would meet some of the needs and requests
of the Cameroonian deaf community for more information and more advocacy.
Deaf adults are eager to learn how to advocate for themselves, but how and where
can they learn this? A deaf community member from Kumba formulated her aware-
ness of deaf Cameroonians learning capacities and the challenges of educational
barriers and global inequality as such: “If I go to America and study and learn how
to be active, then I can do all things that hearing people can do. Then I can write
more and meet the government.” Hopefully, the WFD project can be continued in
long-term projects and provide fur ther support to this process.“(BEING) SERIOUS”: DEAF INDIGENOUS EDUCATION
AS A SITE OF EMPOWERMENT
Despite little structural support and transnational exposure in Cameroon, there
are indigenous “sites of em powerment” (Dei, 2010). Deaf leaders, both women and
men, are actively employing the concept of being serious (expressed by the Cameroon