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‘My eyes are my ears’: Deaf people appropriating AIDS education messages in Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2022

Ambrose Murangira
Ambrose Murangira*
Affiliation:
College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
*
Email: murangiraa@gmail.com
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Abstract

The Ugandan effort to provide AIDS education for the entire population raised questions about how to reach people with disabilities. Based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation with Deaf people in Kampala, this study examined how communication technologies are used in general by Deaf people, and what is specific to communicating about HIV and AIDS. It found that communication technologies, whose purpose is to mediate information, are themselves mediated by social relations. Two contrasts are apparent: between types of technology and types of relationships. The ‘old’ technologies – broadcast and print – often depend on mediation by hearing people, who create the messages and explain audio information to Deaf associates. The ‘new’ digital technologies in the form of smartphones allow Deaf people to communicate directly with one another and facilitate new forms of Deaf sociality, both online and in person. They convey information about AIDS prevention directly, obviating the need to discuss sex with family members of the parental generation, which is culturally sensitive. Smartphones are highly appreciated by Deaf people but the costs of obtaining and using them exclude many.

Résumé

Résumé

L’action d’éducation de la population ougandaise sur le SIDA a soulevé des questions sur la manière de toucher les personnes en situation de handicap. Basée sur des entretiens semi-structurés et des observations participantes avec des sourds à Kampala, cette étude a examiné comment les technologies de communication sont utilisées en général par les sourds, et ce qui est spécifique à la communication sur le VIH et le SIDA. Elle a constaté que les technologies de communication, dont le but est de médier l’information, sont elles-mêmes médiées par les relations sociales. Deux contrastes sont apparents : entre les types de technologie et les types de relations. Les « vieilles » technologies (radiodiffusion et impression) dépendent souvent d’une médiation assurée par des personnes entendantes qui créent les messages et expliquent l’information audio à des personnes sourdes. Les « nouvelles » technologies numériques sous la forme de smartphones permettent aux personnes sourdes de communiquer directement entre elles et facilitent de nouvelles formes de socialité des sourds, à la fois en ligne et en personne. Elles transmettent l’information sur la prévention du SIDA, en évitant d’avoir à parler de sexe avec des membres de la famille appartenant à la génération parentale, culturellement sensible. Les smartphones sont très appréciés par les personnes sourdes mais les coûts d’acquisition et d’utilisation de ces appareils en excluent beaucoup.

Type
Disability and technology
Information
Africa , Volume 92 , Issue 4 , August 2022 , pp. 467 - 483
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute

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