Disabled community being included in national preparedness activities

After the passage of Tropical Storm Matthew in September 2016, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) was scolded by the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) for neglecting to reach the deaf community during the national coverage of the two-day Tropical Storm event.

However, DEM’s Programme Officer Danielle Skeete told the media that following a meeting with BCD, her department is now partnering with the Council to include members of the disabled community in its national preparedness activities.

Yesterday, during a press conference held at DEM’s Warrens Industrial Park headquarters, to launch the 2017 Earthquake & Tsunamis Smart Month which is being held in March, DEM also made the first public screening of a Tsunami Smart Public Service Announcement (PSA).

In the announcement, local actor Simon Alleyne spoke about what Barbadians should do in the event of an earthquake or tsunami, as prominent interpreter Bonnie Leonce signed the message for members of the deaf community.

The short clip was directed and edited by Rahmat Jean-Pierre, who was assisted by Dario Nightingale, a deaf student of the Division of Youth’s Mainstreaming Digital Media Programme. James Inniss and Ricardo Leonce were also production assistants. The PSA will be aired on national television and the public will also be able to view it on the department’s website and Facebook page.

“Together they conceptualised and produced this PSA at no cost to the government of Barbados for the people of Barbados.

“Special mention is also made of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and the Barbados Government Information Service for their facilitation of the process,” Skeete said.

BCD’s Operations Manager, Roseanna Tudor, who was also present for the screening of the Public Service Announcement, said she was happy that agencies were beginning to include the Council in their activities, which means they have been listening and hearing. She said while research has shown that people acquire a disability within their lifetime, it is important for there to be heightened public awareness about persons with disabilities. Tudor also indicated that there is a need for sign language to be taught at schools.

Tudor praised the PSA and also commended the team at DEM for putting plans in place to further work with the disabled community in various ways.

“I am so happy that DEM has listened to us because when we met with them, we also spoke about using a lot of social media platforms and one of them is Facebook Live, which is what is being done right now. Many members of the deaf community depend on communication.

“Can you imagine not hearing anything? You are seeing press conferences, but you are not hearing anything. You can’t tell what’s going on at the press conferences. We suggest that they try to use live feed because many persons who are deaf have smartphones and they utilise their smartphones wherever they are. So if you want to reach the deaf, use live feed and the message will go out to them immediately,” Tudor said. (AH)