According to Vanessa Reyneke, Project Coordinator at the US Handlab, they will use the R1,6 million they received to address existing gaps in the current SASL curriculum. They will also start with the development of new material for each grade to ensure that the curriculum material is topical and up to date.

"The development of curriculum material in SASL is a long and expensive process that requires a lot of time and effort.

"We focus on SASL as a subject, but the other subjects like maths and life skills need material in SASL too. There is also a huge need for SASL material for the Early Childhood Development (ECD) phase which impacts on a Deaf child’s language acquisition in SASL," explains Reyneke.

"Improving the educational opportunities of children living with disabilities is important to the Jannie Mouton Foundation, and we are happy to support the work that Handlab does in this regard," says Pieter du Plessis, Manager of the Foundation.

The US Handlab is mainly funded by the Western Cape Education Department and caters for schools in the Western Cape. Its material is also submitted to the Department of Basic Education for screening and then becomes part of the national catalogue where other schools for the Deaf can purchase the material.

"Language development is very important, and nationally our schools are desperate for content," says Reyneke.

There are six schools for the Deaf in the Western Cape, and approximately 1 500 Deaf learners benefit from the content developed by the US Handlab.

"That is why we are so grateful for this donation. Although we are situated within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at SU, we need to raise our own funds to continue our work."

The project also works on ad hoc projects when it receives specific funding for it.

Last year, it received funds from Stellenbosch University’s Division for Social Impact and from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences to make Covid-19-related information more accessible to a Deaf audience by creating information resources in SASL – by Deaf people for Deaf people.

After addressing the most pressing needs for information on staying physically healthy, they focused on Covid-19’s impact on mental health by translating a website (www.wieisek.co.za), dedicated to this topic, into SASL.

"We received very positive feedback. One woman said that after accessing this information, she had the words to describe what she was experiencing, which was anxiety, and that she was finally able to get the help she needed to heal.

"People’s lives change when they have the ability and language to express themselves."