D/deaf children and adults from across Jamaica converged on the island’s Mona Bowl for the first ever DeafKidz Jamaica sports day.
The two-day event saw hundreds of children from schools for the D/deaf across the island compete against each other in netball, football, track and field and table tennis on day one, whilst D/deaf adults also joined the action for day two!
The festival was aimed at enabling D/deaf children and young people to participate in a fun sport activity which also, through a series of carefully planned activities, delivered and reinforced messaging on safeguarding, child rights and child protection. All of which served to raise awareness of abuse and how best to mitigate its occurrence.
Executive Officer of the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, Iris Soutar; “Deaf children tend to face stigma and discrimination which leads to low self-concepts. Thus, one of the aims of the sports day is to empower the children through sports. The Advancing DeafKidz Jamaica! sports day helped to provide numerous opportunities for developing self-esteem and self-respect”.
In partnership with DeafKidz International, who provided development support and guidance, the Jamaica Association for the Deaf has worked to build a far reaching collaboration between the University of Technology, the Sports Development Foundation and Deaf Sport Jamaica. Working together, a robust foundation has been established; one that will enable future festivals to have an even greater impact as Stephanie McIntyre-Groves, Project Co-ordinator, explains; “This festival is a first. It builds upon Deaf Sport Jamaica’s existing work but enables us to ensure distinct activity around safeguarding occurs with both D/deaf children and, of course, their parents. This festival has been a considerable success and we were pleased to have the opportunity to continue dialogue with our partners at the British High Commission, UNESCO, UNICEF and DFID, as we work to further develop our programmatic work both in Jamaica and across the wider Caribbean. As a D/deaf led organisation with an authentic voice, we’re about getting things done”.
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