LocationsOpen Up the World for Deaf People in Cambodia
January 7, 2025
Thavy remembers sitting in her room alone for days on end, only spoken to when it was lunch or dinner time. She spent her days idle, feeling hopeless, looking out of the window watching the crows fly, and hoping at times that her life would stop there and now. She was often alone at home when her parents and siblings go out to visit family and friends.
Deaf people are not only isolated within their own families, but also in society at large. They are among the most excluded and marginalized groups in Cambodia. They want to communicate with the world, but the world does not even notice them. Why? Because most of them do not know how to communicate or interact with others. They often cannot speak or write. They do not know the sign language to engage with others and make themselves understood. They do not know about life beyond their community and are unaware of schools and opportunities available for deaf people.
Thavy mentioned that at home the family may use gestures, about 25 or 30 “home signs”, mostly for giving her orders such as “Take the cow out”. Families do not understand deafness. In some instances, some families did not even give a name to their deaf child and they did not register him/her in their family book.
According to the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (2023), 5.9% of people aged five years and older have some form of hearing difficulty, 0.9% find it very difficult to hear, and 0.1% cannot hear at all.
As part of its disability inclusion programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partnered with the NGO Maryknoll Cambodia to remove barriers for deaf people. They provide training in basic Cambodian sign language and peer support, enabling participants to communicate and share their opinions and interests among peers. Five groups of deaf people, including 56 members of whom 29 women, were formed in Kampong Cham and Tbong Khmum Provinces.
Thavy runs her home business, communicating with customers using sign language.
Basic sign language training for the deaf community.
The average age of the members is between 18 and 25 years. All suffered from isolation and very limited interactions with their surroundings.
A deaf young lady said: "Before I joined the group, I did not have friends because I could not communicate with other people in the village. After joining, I learned the basic Khmer sign language and could communicate with peers and even to chat with them via Facebook. My life was completely changed. Now I can talk to the world."
Another young man who had a small barber shop shared that after joining the deaf group, he could help his peers by training a few deaf people on haircutting so that they could start their own businesses like him.
Group members reported that, after seeing their group activities, their neighbors started to communicate with them more, and they were invited more to wedding ceremonies and other festivities. They said that after receiving life skills and sign language training, they could make their own decisions and share their vision.
The groups created a safe space for the deaf young people to learn the Cambodian Sign Language and be aware of their rights. They provided a supportive and accepting environment where everyone speaks the same language. As the deaf people mastered sign language, a new world opened up to them.
A deaf barber gives a customer a haircut.
And—most importantly—they learned how to interact socially, develop friendships, and entertain relationships as equals. In the group, the young people spoke about living alone, their parents and the restrictions to do certain things, and their prospects limited to cooking, cleaning, and caring for cows and chickens.
A youth group engaging in a discussion using sign language.
Training in basic Cambodian sign language and peer support for Deaf people.
The group interactions allowed them to gain self-confidence and self-worth. They started to see themselves as “good and useful”. They slowly started to gain respect in their families and their communities and acquired a proper identity as worthy people.
The groups are preparing them for the eventual establishment of a national association for the deaf, the day when different groups in various provinces will come together to form a national body that can then advocate for and speak on behalf of the Cambodian deaf community.
UNDP is committed to the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities, including the deaf, in line with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Through strategic partnerships, UNDP is actively working to amplify the voices of the persons with disabilities in their communities, strengthening the legal and regulatory framework for inclusion and linking them to relevant public institutions and services.