Nurturing Deaf Flourishing Sustainably 223
(De Clerck, 2012d), community members from other regions said that although
they were not familiar with the dance that Mr. Amadoua introduced, its energy
and sense of connection and hope were fascinating. To further understand the
meanings imbued in the drama, Dr. Lutalo-Kiingi and Mr. Amadoua watched the
film again and discussed these topics (Lutalo-Kiingi, personal communication,
August 1 and 2, 2013).
The vision of cooperation expressed by the sign for unity also referred to the
working together of the national and regional deaf associations in Cameroon, who
were each represented at the WFD training. Through presentations and creative
drama, the training had emphasized that cooperation was essential to enhance the
collective well-being of all deaf people in Cameroon.
The metaphor of the need to obtain energy from sharing food to become worthy
of the “wealthy mama” represents the challenges that deaf Cameroonians face in
exchanging experiences and gaining the proficiency required to achieve a flourish-
ing deaf association. Gathering together not only reduces social isolation, but at a
political level, it addresses the efforts of Mr. Amadoua and others from the Extreme
North to make their association, ASM, part of CANAD (which at the time of writing
has not yet happened).
The introduction of the “lonely” deaf person to the wealthy mama also conveys a
transition toward maturity, full personhood, and citizenship, and can be seen as a
Cameroonian version of the theme of deaf people growing up alone and finding a
community (see Chapter 6). Bringing together women and men to facilitate part-
nership and marriage is a cultural practice, and it is used metaphorically here to
encourage cooperation among the national and regional deaf associations, which
is necessary for these entities to “gain maturity.” This practice is also common else-
where in Cameroon, but in the Extreme North, uniquely, deaf marriage is facili-
tated by the social inclusion of signers and the use of ExNorthCamSL by both deaf
and hearing individuals, whereas financial and communication constraints seem to
create more barriers to this in the central areas.
The metaphors of intimacy with the wealthy mama and enjoying delicious food
are both verbal metonymies; the creative combination of these metaphors evokes
multiple meanings: increasing strength and maturity, finding joy and satisfaction,
and eventually procreation. Food is also the result of a cyclical process of growth,
sustaining life across the generations (see further in this chapter for discussion
of the tree metaphor). The construction of such metaphors stems from the mind
using our physical experience of the world (e.g. eating and physical intimacy) to
make sense of abstract concepts (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980).
This section has discussed notions of deaf flourishing in a transnational develop-
ment setting in Cameroon as hybrid and dynamic forms of knowledge co- production,
fueled by north-south and south-south cooperation and exchange. The metaphors
of the African mama and appetizing food, shared with the audience through
performance and dance, evoked multiple and culturally situated meanings of devel-
opment toward full personhood, citizenship, and sustainable perspectives for subse-
quent generations. In the next section, I look into this community’s transformative
use of theater.