The Deaf People of Venezuela
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2012-020 ® The Deaf People of Venezuela Holly Williams Elizabeth Parks The Deaf People of Venezuela Holly Williams and Elizabeth Parks SIL International ® 2012 SIL Electronic Survey Report 2012-020, June 2012 Copyright © 2012 Holly Williams, Elizabeth Parks, and SIL International ® All rights reserved Abstract: Venezuelan Sign Language (LSV) emerged with the founding of the first deaf school in 1935 and is used by a national deaf community that appears to have significant contact with each other due to high degrees of mobility. The Venezuelan signing deaf community, with an estimated 15,000 to 52,000 members, appears to be growing in strength and vitality. As a unique ethnolinguistic culture, they are fighting for their linguistic and social needs. Progress is being made by the efforts of the Venezuelan government, deaf associations, and supportive organizations through bilingual education, increase of interpreters and interpreter training, unified national and regional deaf associations, the recognition of LSV’s importance by the government, and the growing body of LSV linguistic publications and resources. 2 Table of Contents 1 The Venezuelan context 2 Venezuelan deaf community 2.1 Deaf meeting places 2.2 Deaf education 3 Venezuelan Sign Language 3.1 Language access 3.2 LSV research and development 4 Conclusion Appendix: List of publications about LSV References 3 1 The Venezuelan context Venezuela is located in South America, bordered by Colombia to the west, the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. It has a total area of 912,050 square kilometers (566,722 square miles) and is divided into 23 states, a capital district, and a federal dependency (72 islands that are federally controlled). (CIA World Factbook 2010) See Figure 1 for Venezuela in its global context (Worldatlas.com 2010). Figure 1: Venezuela map Venezuela gained their independence from Spain on July 5, 1811, and now has a population of approximately 26.8 million, 93% of whom live in urban areas. Venezuela’s main source of income is oil. Roughly 89% of the employable population has work but 38% live below the poverty line. The foremost religion in Venezuela is Christianity, with 96% of the population adhering to Roman Catholicism. Spanish is the official language and 93% of the population over the age of 14 is literate. (CIA World Factbook 2010) Information about disabled Venezuelans is maintained by CONAPI, the National Council for the Integration of Disabled People (IDEAnet 2004). There were 53 petitions by persons with disabilities reporting discrimination in 2004, the same year that Venezuela and many other Latin American countries signed a treaty to eliminate discrimination of persons with disabilities and to fully incorporate them into mainstream society (OAS 2006 and US Department of State 2006). Mather (2006) reports that the Venezuelan National Assembly passed a law in 2006 that requires companies with more than 50 employees to have at least 5% of their workforce be people with disabilities. Although many employers are unaware of this law, some private initiatives have led to the hiring of people with disabilities such as the “Integration Car Wash”, founded by a family of a deaf child (IDEAnet 2004). According to Goodwill Industries International (2010), Venezuela has not yet signed United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 2 Venezuelan deaf community According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), there were 33,996 Venezuelans who were labeled as having complete auditory dysfunction in 2001 (Montenegro 2009). Wikipedia (2010) indicates that the deaf population is probably around 15 thousand, based on adding the number of deaf students in the school system in 2004 (an estimated 3,000), the number of members in the deaf associations in 1997, and 4 0.2% of the total population as suggested by international health organizations. Although no specific statistics were found about the number of deaf and hard of hearing people who may use a sign language, Soper (2008) estimates that there may be around 52 thousand Venezuelan deaf signers. 2.1 Deaf meeting places Founded in 1950, the Asociación de Sordomudos de Caracas is the first established deaf association in Venezuela. Many other deaf associations followed, leading to the founding of the Federación Venezolana de Sordos (FEVENSOR) in June 1989. FEVENSOR members serve as advisors and representatives at various events and governmental proceedings for all the deaf associations and deaf institutions in Venezuela. There are 12 associations affiliated with FEVENSOR, located in the following areas: Caracas, Lara, Carabobo, Yaracuy, Falcon, Anzoategui, Turmero, Anaco, Sucre, Altos Mirandinos, Tachira, and the Asociacion de Ex Alumnos y Amigos de IECO (Asociation of Former students and friends of IECO). FEVENSOR made the first Venezuelan Sign Language dictionary and now pursue various goals such as hosting deaf youth camps, LSV classes, interpreter training in cooperation with the Universidad de Los Andes, deaf education research, vocational training, raising deaf awareness and combating discrimination. (FEVENSOR n.d.) In 1997, there were approximately 9000 deaf members of various deaf associations throughout Venezuela (Wikipedia 2010). In May 2009, around 60 people gathered for the Primer Encuentro Nacional de Jóvenes de Sordos de Venezuela (First National Meeting of Deaf Venezuelan Youth). Three representatives were chosen from various states to discuss topics concerning the deaf youth of Venezuela. In July 2009, FEVENSOR and other organizations participated in the First National Encounter of Deaf People to discuss the progress of deaf people on a national and global level. Among the participants were leaders from the World Federation of the Deaf, World Association of Sign Language Interpreters, and the European Union of the Deaf Youth. (WFD 2009) The Asociación de Trabajadores Sordos de Los Altos Mirandinos (ASTAM) was founded in December 1991 to assist in the development of the workforce, culture and society of deaf people, and provide support to families with deaf members. Their objectives include training deaf people in work ethic and craftsmanship, offering interpreter training, and defending deaf rights. (ASTAM 2006) Camps have become a major activity among the deaf community in Venezuela. In January 2010, Venezuelan deaf youth were involved in the II National Deaf Youth Camp for ages of 18-30 and the First International Deaf Camp for ages 14–35. Both of these camps were hosted by Chilean deaf organizations ASOCH and CRESOR. (Jovenes Sordos Venezuela 2009) The 2nd WFDYS (World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section) Children’s Camp (ages 10–12) will be held in Portofino, Venezuela, August 1-8, 2010. Deaf children from all over the world are invited to attend this free camp with International Sign Language as the language of communication. Space is limited to 200 participants and each country is allowed two children and one adult leader. (Sanchez 2009) Deaf Venezuelans have also been involved in a variety of deaf sporting events around the world. The Organización Deportiva Silenciosa de Venezuela (ODSV) was founded in 1966, changing its name in 1977 to Federación Venezolana Polideportiva de Sordos (FEPOSOR), and organizes deaf sports for the Venezuelan deaf community. There are approximately 2600 deaf athletes from 13 of the deaf sports associations in different regions of Venezuela. Jesús Garcia won the gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1st Campeonato Mundial de Atletismo de Sordos (First World Deaf Athlete Championship) which was held in Turkey (FEPOSOR n.d.). The Pan American Deaf Games are popular among many deaf people and participation requires that the athlete have at least 55db hearing loss in both ears. No athlete is allowed to wear any hearing assistive device during competition. The first and fourth Pan American Deaf Games were held in Venezuela in 1975 and 2007. Since 1999, the Pan American Deaf Games have been 5 held every four years. The second Pan American Deaf Youth Games was also held in Venezuela. (USA Deaf Sports Federation n.d.) See Table 1 for a list of Venezuelan deaf associations and organizations. Table 1: Associations and organizations of and for deaf people Name Contact Information Asociación de Sordos del Estado de Avda. Miranda Nº 5 - Cumana, Edo. Sucre; (093) Sucre 333401324264; President - Rogerst Maray Asociación de Sordos de Turmero Calle Negro Primero N 2.1 A, Turmero Edo. Asociación de Trabajadores Sordos Av. La Hoyada, Los Teques, Edo. Miranda; President - de los Altos Mirandinos (ASTAM) Francisco Pérez; http://astam2007.spaces.live.com/ Consejo Nacional para las Personas http://www.conapdis.gob.ve/ con Discapacidad (CONAPDIS) Consejo Regional para las Personas Miranda con Discapacidad (CORIPDIS) http://200.44.156.147/coripdis/ Fabricante y distribuidor de Av. Francisco De Miranda 0 Piso, Caracas; 212-266-3065 Audífonos para Sordos Federación Latino-Americana de Apartado de Chacao 60.209, Caracas 1060 Sociedades de Foniatría Logopedia y Audiologia (FLASFLA) Federación Venezolana de Sordos 3ª. Transversal Norte de Guaicaipuro, Qta. Fray Ponce de León, (FEVENSOR) Guaicaipuro. Sede de la Asociación de Sordos de Caracas. Apartado 50063, Sabana Grande. Caracas 1050 – Venezuela; fevensor@cantv. net; http://www.fevensor.20m.com/Page2.htm Federación Venezolana Polideportiva Apartado 76.840, Caracas - 1070-A; (58 2) 9770423; de Sordos [email protected], [email protected]; http://www.feposor.com.ve Fundación Nacional al Proyecto de [email protected] or [email protected] Accesibilidad a la Lengua de Señas http://www.proyectolsv.es.tl/ Venezolana (FUNAPRALSV) Fundación Nacional de Sordos del [email protected] Estado Mérida (FNSEM) http://www.fundacionsem2009-fundacionsem.blogspot.com/ Grupo de Interpretes de Lengua de (416) 726-49.64 or (212) 361-9291, [email protected] Señas Venezolana (ILSV) http://interpreteslsv.tripod.com/ contains contact information for interpreters listed by state Instituto Auditivo Widex S.A. Edificio Centre Seguros La Paz, Piso 5, Of. Norte -51-E, Avda.