Deaf Kenyans have a strong work ethic and many hidden talents, but find it nearly impossible to find work as most employers are unable to communicate with them.
As I spent time with them in Kenya twice in 2011, I had the joy of uncovering some of their hidden talents as I worked with artisans.
It was a special joy to work with Nancy, the new Artisan Team Leader who is also deaf. Promoting her to a leadership role gave me such pleasure. She is a woman who God had already obviously prepared over many years. Her heart and spirit were ready. Although she has been a spiritual leader in her circles and taught the Bible to other Deaf people, there just hadn’t been this kind of business and spiritual leadership opportunity for her until now.
What a pleasure it was to give her new responsibilities, ones she eagerly embraces. As the Artisan Team Leader, she does see herself as a spiritual leader for the artisans. She commits the business into God’s hands and invites the artisans to pray through the obstacles and challenges we face. She seems unflappable and at peace even when there are many reasons not to be. She is also very loving. It is an absolute joy to teach her. She absorbs everything so easily and is quite patient with my efforts to communicate when we are without an interpreter.
Although my most recent three weeks in Kenya was too short and there were many things I wanted to teach that time just did not allow, I also realized that I need to step aside for a brief time to let her test her wings and to establish her leadership in the group. As various hearing members of the team ask questions or to ask for a decision, I gently directed them to Nancy to ask their question and let her consult with me on the issues she needs help with. For a couple of days I spent the mornings in the design room, doing training and coaching with her on managing the production side of things, giving some direction on what to do that day, and then headed back to my apartment to work on ordering materials or to create an insert card or update the production plan. I was delighted when I came back just before quitting time to see what was accomplished.
My temporary absence also means that the room has a better chance of switching back to Deaf dominant. It’s easy for us hearing folks to dominate a room by talking to each other without also signing. That can make Deaf people feel excluded. I also try to force myself to sign as I’m talking with a hearing person in the room so as not to be rude. That means I’m talking veeeerrrrrry slowly to keep pace with my signing speed (and sometimes my finger spelling speed – which is somewhere between turtle and slow).
There is still so much training left to do with the artisans and the Team Leader. I don’t want to leave her for too long with only the training she has received thus far. All of these responsibilities and tasks are so new for her, she needs some support and needs someone with whole she can talk through questions and decisions. I’m eager to go back and teach her and the other artisans more. In the meantime, here in the U.S., I’m incubating the business from afar, including coordinating multiple team members in Kenya and the U.S. who perform various functions in support of the business.
I’m also trying to work myself out of some jobs and we have two people ready to take their positions. I’ll be training them in production planning, ordering raw materials, pricing products, tracking inventory, and calculating fair wages, as well as connecting them with U.S. wholesale buyers.
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