“The fresh Gong Gong Is actually Outdone” —A gooddamorobe: An effective “Deaf Village” in the Ghana and its own Wedding Ban to have Deaf Partners

Adamorobe was a village in Ghana the spot where the historical exposure away from an inherited type of deafness triggered a lot of deaf inhabitants. Over the many years, a neighborhood indication vocabulary emerged, which is used ranging from deaf and reading people in daily life, helping to make Adamorobe towards another place of inclusion off deaf somebody. But not, in the 1975, a legislation are put to reduce how datingsida för Scottish damer many deaf individuals during the Adamorobe: deaf some body you should never wed both to prevent deaf offspring. Ultimately, so it law threatens the new linguistic and you can cultural diversity in this village where use of signal vocabulary is actually omnipresent and you may in which deaf people are perceived as completely energetic and worthwhile members of society. This article is arranged as much as one or two sets of stress from the community, First and foremost, reading mans welcome and inclusion of your deaf population, instead of brand new need to live-in a town with no (otherwise faster) deaf some body. Furthermore, there clearly was a tension between deaf mans contact with, and you can opposition up against, legislation, this will be a stress which may be noticed in the brand new life off relationship between deaf people, and you may abortions whenever this type of unions end up in pregnancies.

step 1. Inclusion

Every-where [into the Adamorobe] the fresh gong gong are outdone [to help you declare and bequeath certain reports]. I pondered: what happened? Did anything get stolen? Did some body get killed? But one was not the case; the message was you to definitely deaf people do not wed each other. The newest gong gong try outdone therefore try said that deaf individuals have in order to get married hearing someone. The fresh new gong gong try defeated, “While the deaf with deaf get children which are unable to tune in to, cannot hear, can not hear.” Ooohh we had been surprised. Such an embarrassment…The latest gong gong was defeated: marry reading, marry reading. Having reading, not having deaf. Every-where the newest gong gong try rung: “Wed reading, then hearing children are born, hearing try produced, hearing is produced. Which is an effective, that’s true. Deaf deaf deaf anyone every where, zero that’s not a good.” The gong gong is actually beaten…Like a pity…(regret) [step one,2].

“The fresh new Gong Gong Are Defeated” -An excellentdamorobe: Good “Deaf Community” inside the Ghana and its Relationships Prohibition for Deaf Lovers

Within quote, Adamorobe’s oldest deaf woman laments an ancient second. When you look at the 1975, within the first year out of his chieftaincy, Nana Kwaakwaa Asiampong produced a rules-promulgated in the town by the an effective gong gong beater-that deaf people in Adamorobe commonly permitted to get married one another because create cause deaf offspring. As an alternative, they must orobe, deaf-reading unions are much less likely to want to render forward students you to is actually deaf.

Adamorobe are a community in the southern Ghana where 41 deaf anyone live certainly one of 3500 hearing villagers. It unusually large number out of deaf villagers stems from brand new historical exposure from an effective “deaf gene,” a beneficial Connexin 26 R143W mutation that has been most likely circulated into the Adamorobe using marriages between your founding Akan matrilineal clans, beginning in the fresh new later 18th century . Over the years, the requirement to communicate with one another about heavy sociocultural communities of Adamorobe features triggered the brand new introduction away from a local signal language employed by one another deaf and hearing anyone. Adamorobe Indication Language (AdaSL) is known and you can employed by every deaf people in Adamorobe and because of the a large part of hearing people, that grown up enjoying and utilizing the text, including Akan, its verbal language . Hence, Adamorobe is known as “ mumfo krow ” inside the Akan, meaning “deaf village,” for because the number of individuals into the Adamorobe just who know indication words is actually high, they claim you to outsiders dont immediately pick who is deaf and you may who is hearing, hence think that men inside the Adamorobe is deaf.