Tikonze Apapa is an NGO based in Malawi that advocates for the deaf community. After participating in the initiative to clean up the Mudi River, they used the fabrics they found to make backpacks for deaf students.
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00:01How is this backpack saving the environment and supporting deaf people?
00:05It's a symbol for showing a greener Malawi, and it's also a symbol to show that we need more representation and more working citizens that are deaf in Malawi.
00:16Tikonze Apapa is a Malawi-based NGO that works with and advocates for the deaf community.
00:22The team realized that by taking part in the Moody River Cleanup Initiative, they could get enough fabric to make trendy backpacks for deaf students at the Moor School for the Deaf in Salima.
00:33But wasn't there an easier way to get material than dredging it from a river?
00:38The Moody River cuts across some of the key communities in Blanty.
00:44As a river, it's always provided a source of water.
00:48When we saw the state of how the Moody had become, that was one of the major reasons why we felt that we should run a campaign on seeing how we can sustainably clean up the Moody River.
01:03In total, we collected over 100 tons of waste.
01:07But when we started separating it, we found 40% was material, and then another 50% was made out of various types of plastics.
01:19When we went and we got our partnership with Art Malawi and saw that they were making backpacks, we thought to ourselves,
01:26people with disabilities, with deaf and hard, they can do the same.
01:29And this can also help raise awareness for those that don't know that there are deaf people in our population.
01:35Saving the environment? Check.
01:40Community cleanup campaigns allow nature to recover while promoting collaboration.
01:45It's a win-win, especially when there's a plan to process the waste and not just dump it in a landfill.
01:51In this case, Tikonza and Papa got the clean material, and then the design team stepped in.
01:58But considering the origins of the material, what were the challenges in designing the backpacks?
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02:54We are all here. We are deaf.
03:05And we've come all the way because we wanted to see you personally.
03:10Over 500,000 Malawians are deaf or hard of hearing.
03:14A lack of sign language interpretation services and early intervention means that members of this community live in a deafening silence,
03:22mostly ignored and hidden by society.
03:26What are the biggest challenges faced by this community and how do they affect their lives?
03:31One of our attempts in raising awareness was creating a music video.
03:37In the song, the two items that we addressed was employment and we were also addressing education.
03:45As we're teaching them, either it's in health or in education by providing interpreters so that they can provide a total communication atmosphere.
03:53Our interpreters are language facilitators, meaning that as the teacher is speaking, the interpreters are there interpreting what is being said.
04:03It helps them, the deaf students in language development, and it also helps the learners know what is going on currently in real time in the classroom.
04:13Because of the high failure rate, we're not able to see a lot of deaf students in college or a technical college.
04:26Deaf students have the lowest high school matriculation rates.
04:31Over the past 30 years, less than 200 have secured college or university admission.
04:36How difficult was it to lower some of the barriers to education and boost deaf students' chance of success?
04:44Did these backpacks help at all?
04:45Instead of carrying their subjects and their belongings by hand, they're able to put it into a backpack and now walk to school.
04:54These backpacks became more than just a backpack, but a symbol of hope to know that there's something beyond these walls of education.
05:03I'm able to see adults that are deaf, that are able to work, that are able to make money, that are able to sustain their families.
05:13200 backpacks were eventually donated to students at the Moore School for the Deaf in Salima, each one stitched by a deaf designer who learned new skills to support themselves.
05:24And with their growing range of products, which includes corporate gifts, lunch bags, and aprons, are announcing to the world that the deaf in Malawi will no longer be silent.