The Untold: The role of sign language in Ghana's coronavirus fight

About 0.4% of Ghana’s population is deaf, constituting a part of the minority groups in the country.

These persons are usually overlooked when decisions of national interest are being taken hence, provisions are ever hardly made for them.

They also usually find it difficult to communicate with other people in society and even family members because many don’t bother to learn their language; the sign language.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana, however, the hearing impaired could not be ignored anymore as it became necessary to properly educate the entire population on the necessary precautions to take to curb its spread in the country.

The Ministry of Information, therefore, saw the need to involve sign language interpreters in its media briefing sessions on the pandemic, so the hearing impaired in society can also get the message and protect themselves.

The onus to ensure the hearing impaired receive the message at the same time the hearing majority gets it fell on Love Amissah and Clement Sam, two sign language interpreters.

The two faces have become very familiar in many homes, especially to the hearing impaired across the country.

On this edition of ‘The Untold’, we spend time with Love and Clement as they share some personal and occupational experience with us.