Since 2013, I have visited Jamaica six different times; the first five of which I visited as a part of a mission trip to work alongside those engaged in full-time ministry at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf (CCCD), a K-12 school for the deaf in the heart of Kingston, Jamaica. It was a trip I began taking while a college student at the University of Northern Iowa and then had the ability to continue going on to serve as a leader while working at Minnesota State University, Mankato. My most recent trip took place in November 2019, after several years of going with a team and building relationships with different individuals in the country. That trip was honestly just for fun- getting to help where a hand was needed but more to take a break toward the end of the semester.
When I took my first trip in March 2013, all I knew about the deaf community was that many of them used sign language to communicate and that I only knew how to sign two things; the letters of the alphabet and the phrase ‘yellow toilet’, thanks to Mrs. Whiton’s 7th grade sign language course. My journey learning about deaf culture and communication with individuals who are deaf is 7 years in the making and nowhere near the finish line. Truth be told, I don’t think there can ever be an end when it comes to learning about another person’s story and culture.
Several years ago, a small group of teenage Jamaican boys attending school at the CCCD developed an idea to begin brewing coffee using beans that a deaf farmer was growing and roasting in the hills of St. Elizabeth after they visited the farmer on a field trip. After a while, that idea turned into a social enterprise where youth who are deaf are being trained to be baristas and then are able to seek gainful employment at coffee shops across the country. The company, Deaf Can! Coffee, has expanded beyond just roasting and making coffee/espresso to locally baked goods being sold across the country. The “Deaf Can!” mindset has empowered deaf Jamaicans to build their confidence and see themselves as individuals who can do anything they set their minds to; flipping the view that the deaf are dumb while building up youth who are deaf across Jamaica to believe in themselves and the abilities they have. Deaf Can! Coffee has given students a place of belonging and a platform for the deaf community to educate others about the deaf culture.
I have had the opportunity to see some of those baristas give a presentation on LACK before, and I believe it perfectly sums up this concept. LACK stands for Language, Affirmation, Community, Knowledge - and serves as an explanation of the deaf culture in Jamaica as well as a literal representation of how many people view individuals who are deaf. The biggest thing that needs to be understood about individuals who are deaf prior to any talk on communication is that they don’t lack anything. While many may look at a person who is deaf and see a disability, many individuals who are deaf see ability.
Just because they lack the ability to hear, does not mean they lack the ability to communicate.
So if we understand that individuals who are deaf do not lack and we understand that their communication abilities are not less than those who can hear, they are just simply different than, then we can finally begin to understand what individuals who are deaf have taught me about communication.
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Throughout my years of school, I’ve been taught the most important part of communication is what isn’t said in a conversation. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to many, given that non-verbals make up 93% of communication with the remaining 7% being what is actually said. In a world filled with our heads buried in phones, though, that non-verbal communication can get lost. Think about your conversation habits and you might recognize that you spend a lot of time talking to others via social media/texting or that when your conversations are in person, you are speaking to them while pre-occupied with something else.
While individuals who are deaf can certainly use social media/texting to converse with others, non-verbals make up the entirety of their in person communication. Their communication primarily happens through sign language BUT, what you may not realize is how much more important eye contact is in their communication. Individuals who are able to hear can speak to another person in front of them without ever having to take their eyes off their computer; I know I’ve been guilty of this when working in my own office and someone swings in for something quick. Far too often I keep my eyes glued to my computer while passively listening to what they have to say. Individuals who are deaf use their eyes to both communicate but also to show their desire to not engage in a conversation. I’ve seen it happen too many times to count where two individuals who are deaf will be joking around in a conversation together and then one of them simply looks away to end the argument after signing their last few words.
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I mentioned before that I went on a trip to Jamaica on my own in November 2019, and that experience really helped solidify my thoughts on this writing. I arrived in country on a Friday afternoon and two of my friends who are hearing were away on a trip until Sunday afternoon. We had been communicating about my trip in the days prior and they informed me that Carlyle would be picking me up from the airport and then I’d spend the day Saturday travelling across the island to help with an event for Deaf Can! Coffee. While attending that event, I watched Carlyle and another barista, Travis, make drinks for people and heard time and time again how much the people enjoyed their drinks and were impressed with the baristas’ abilities. I met their “thank you’s” with “your welcomes” and signed their gratitude to the baristas so that they could know of their appreciation too. However, it made me think about how these two individuals have gone their lives with many in the hearing community not being able to communicate with them. They’ve walked through life in social situations not knowing what conversations are happening around them or they’ve watched TV and not known what was happening.
Less than a day after the event, though, I woke up on Sunday morning and attended a bible study in the cafe on site at CCCD. There were five of us in the room. Four individuals who were deaf and me, the only person who could hear. And then I understood. I sat for an hour in silence. Watching the four individuals who are deaf communicate back and forth using sign, non-verbals, facial expressions, and emotions to communicate with one another. And there I was, alone. Isolated from the situation, catching bits and pieces of the study from what little sign I knew but for the most part, unaware of what was going on around me.
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Individuals with hearing loss are intelligent humans who may not communicate with those who are hearing in the same way two individuals who can hear would, but they are still able to communicate. They are fully capable of doing whatever they set their mind to; they just need access to be able to do it. What good does a video training do for an individual who is deaf if there are no subtitles? What good does a microphone at the front of a stage do if there is not an interpreter there too?
I’ve learned quite a bit during my time in Jamaica, but like I stated before, I don’t believe my education will ever be complete when it involves learning about other cultures. We have a lot to learn from the deaf community - both about their culture and how they utilize their hands, eyes, lips, and non-verbals to communicate with the world. Knowing that there is so much more for all of us to learn, moving forward, the question I ask of you is this- how can you better serve these individuals in your daily life and your work as you strive to give individuals within the deaf community better access to the resources they need to be successful in your spaces?