With four years of voluntary work and a degree in media under her belt, it was finally time for Angela Spielsinger to realise her long-held dream of working overseas. Angela is deaf, so finding an organisation that would meet her needs was her top priority. She chose VSO’s Youth for Development programme and a job in The Gambia. As an Advocacy and Awareness Raising Trainer with The Gambia Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she challenged attitudes towards disability and set up a groundbreaking Deaf Club.
What made you decide to volunteer with VSO?
When I was about 18 I saw a deaf man giving a presentation about volunteering with VSO in The Philippines. I was absolutely fascinated. VSO was new to me but I wrote down the name and kept it. Then I started noticing people who were going overseas and the name VSO kept coming up - it was building a very good reputation for its relationship with deaf people. I did some research and looked at other voluntary organisations and their websites didn’t say much about support for disabled people. But VSO’s site was different, and I remember thinking ‘wow, this is an organisation that is run by hearing people but it seems to be deaf aware’. The Youth for Development team agreed to provide sign language interpreters so I was satisfied about how they were going to meet my needs.
What kind of challenges did you see people with disabilities facing when you arrived in The Gambia?
Disabled people are often excluded from the community. They’re labelled as a problem. When I first arrived, deaf people would say to me ‘are you deaf?’ They thought I could be hearing because of my background, the fact that I had a degree and that I could write English. They couldn’t quite believe I was deaf. Over time they accepted that I was like them, but then other people would say ‘oh you’re deaf, I’m sorry, God must have punished your parents.’ They had sympathy and a patronising attitude, which I had to change.
How did you get people looking at disability differently?
Deaf people tended to be embarrassed of their deafness, try to hide it, try and present themselves like a hearing person. But I reassured them that being deaf is totally acceptable, and to show that will help to raise awareness. Gradually they became more assertive, they started to campaign, and they started forming relationships. Many deaf people were falling in love and getting married – before, their parents wouldn’t have wanted them to marry another deaf person because they’d be worried about the deafness being passed to their children. But now they’re speaking up and making this decision themselves.
Tell me about the Deaf Club you set up under The Gambia Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (GADHOH).
Deaf people were living in villages all over the country in isolation, very lonely without anyone to communicate with. So when I decided to open the Deaf Club and get everyone from those villages to come, it was amazing that they could have conversation with other people like them. It was a social event, with the women cooking and people paying a small amount towards their meal. It became very popular so GADHOH’s sub-committee decided to hold the club once a month. I was helping and towards the end of my placement, I decided to take a step back and let them run it themselves.
Is the Deaf Club still going strong now today?
It is! In fact there are now three Deaf Clubs, as well as five new branches of GADHOH around the country. They’ve also set up the Gambian Deaf Sport Association (GDSA), which is recognised by the International Committee for Sports for the Deaf. I’m honoured to be an International Sister of the GDSA. I’m so pleased to see how lives have been transformed.
And what are you doing now?
I’m working at the BBC as a researcher for a deaf TV programme, and I’m still involved in community work in my spare time.
Find out more about Youth for Development
For information about volunteering with a disability, go to the health section of our FAQ page
To learn more about The Gambia Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, visit their website
