• Bridging Gaps in Panama
    The Watchtower—2006 | April 15

    • Overcoming the Barrier of Deafness

      In Panama, many families with hearing-impaired members tend to feel ashamed. At times, such ones have been deprived of any type of education. Many deaf ones feel isolated and excluded, while communication with them is very difficult.

      It became evident, therefore, that something had to be done to reach the hearing-impaired with the good news. With the encouragement of a traveling overseer, a group of eager pioneers and others set about learning Panamanian Sign Language. Their resourcefulness was rewarded.

      By the latter part of 2001, a sign-language group had been established in Panama City. The meeting attendance was about 20. As the brothers and sisters became more proficient in the language, they were able to reach out to many who for the first time “heard” Bible truth in their language. Many Witnesses with hearing-impaired children also began attending the meetings and discovered that their children more readily understood Bible teachings and became more enthusiastic about the truth. Often, parents learned to sign and could thus communicate better with their children. The parents could help their children spiritually and found that the family was strengthened. The experience of Elsa and her daughter, Iraida, well illustrates this.

      A Witness working with the sign-language group learned about Iraida, visited her, and placed the brochure Enjoy Life on Earth Forever!c Iraida greatly appreciated what she was able to learn from the pictures about the new world. A Bible study was started in the brochure. Upon concluding the study of that publication, they used the brochure What Does God Require of Us?d At that point, Iraida started to ask her mother to help her to prepare and to explain the information to her.

      Elsa had two problems: Not being a Witness, she did not know Bible truth, and she did not understand sign language. She had been told that she should not sign to her daughter but that her daughter had to learn to speak. Consequently, communication between mother and daughter was limited. Moved by Iraida’s request for help, Elsa asked that a Witness in the congregation study with her. She said: “I made the request for my daughter’s sake, since I have never seen Iraida so excited about anything.” Elsa joined her daughter in her study and learned sign language. As Elsa dedicated more time to her daughter, communication at home improved. Iraida began to be more selective about the friends she made, and she associated with the congregation. Now both mother and daughter attend Christian meetings regularly. Elsa was recently baptized, and Iraida is progressing toward that goal. Elsa relates that for the first time, she is getting to know her daughter and that they can now talk about many important things that are dear to both of them.

      The sign-language group, which became a congregation in April 2003, has now grown to some 50 Kingdom publishers, with more than that attending meetings. Over one third are deaf. Other sign-language groups are being formed in three cities outside of the metropolitan area of Panama City. Though there is still much to do in this field, there is no doubt that a major step has been taken to bridge the gap of “silence” between honesthearted deaf people and their loving Creator, Jehovah God.