16 Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning
do anything but hear,” encourages students to live up to their potential. The school
has gradually grown and established vocational, technical, and academic programs,
becoming one of the places in Cameroon where deaf children and families are
provided with opportunities for alternative trajectories. Because of this, in 2015 the
number of deaf students who passed the national elementary school examination at
this school and in the entire country actually increased (Aloysius Bibum, personal
communication, July 31, 2016).
In a country where secondary education for deaf people has only recently begun
and where deaf schools are private and many deaf children are still not able to at-
tend, the development of secondary programs at Buea has planted seeds of hope.
Consciousness has grown among young deaf students able to avail themselves of a
secondary education, and although they are aware of the challenges posed by soci-
etal perceptions of deafness, they handle these with a confident and positive spirit.
Such attitudes contrast with the sense of shattered aspirations that burdens many
deaf adults, who also want to “develop” and be successful but often feel hopeless
and angry when facing the inequality of having limited or no education, which
leads to illiteracy, unemployment, and societal and familial exclusion. It was this
rough anger of deaf adults in Douala that struck me most during my first visit to the
country in 2007, perhaps because this kind of anger has become relatively taboo in
Western countries. As Peter Sloterdijk (2012) argues in his book Time and Anger, our
anger has been channeled into consumption, and we have forgotten to employ its
critical potential as a driving force for political change. Small, short-term initiatives
have been undertaken in Cameroon by nGos and local deaf advocacy groups, but
structural and long-term support for capacity building, adult education, community
empowerment, and advocacy remains absent, making it difficult for deaf adults to
generate alternatives (see further in Chapter 5).
In 2010 and 2011, the Cameroon national Association of the Deaf (CAnAD) ben-
efited from the Deaf Human Rights and Capacity Building Training Project offered
by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). This contributed to awareness, espe-
cially in regard to Cameroon Sign Language; developments in other deaf commu-
nities; and forms of support that the WFD could provide. Perhaps most importantly,
the training fortified a sense of unity among the community’s leaders, which was
supported by a performance and dance during the closing ceremony. Interestingly,
these cultural practices were initiated by a representative from the Extreme north
of Cameroon, an area close to the borders with Chad and nigeria where deaf peo-
ple experience a sense of inclusion within the local community and use an indige-
nous sign language known as Extreme north Cameroon Sign Language. A closer
look at the exchange and co-production of knowledge during the training reveals
complex negotiations of different views of development. The WFD training was ori-
ented toward the leadership of CAnAD and its regional branches; unfortunately,
due to structural limits in the working of the association as well as in its funding,
this information did not reach the broader deaf community, which is a drawback.
Challenges for the future include instilling an intergenerational solidarity among
members, cooperative and democratic initiatives among the leaders, a prevailing
spirit of hope tied to practices of empowerment and advocacy that bring change to