Silent appeal for rights of Greece’s hearing-impaired
Over 25,000 people in Greece live in silence. Trapped between a physical disability and a mostly uncaring community, the deaf have been pushed to the margins of society. In her documentary film, «Words of Silence,» currently being screened at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Loukia Rikaki took a daring dive into the silent world of the deaf and opened a dialogue that challenges the role of society and the State, not just to protect, but to assimilate this proportionately large group of people into all spheres of public life. The impetus for «Words of Silence» was a law passed unanimously in Parliament two years ago allowing sign language to be taught in schools. Before then, there was no legal recognition of sign language as a needed method of communication in Greece, a country that is fervently embracing the standards of the European Union. But, unlike its other European counterparts, Greece has little to offer in terms of financial or infrastructural support to its deaf community, neglecting to provide them with the most basic of rights. In an interview with Kathimerini English Edition at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, the people featured in «Words of Silence» – Lemonia Gamalia, Eleni Rinioti and Markos Samaras – spoke about the many obstacles they have had to face as deaf people living in Greece. «I want equal opportunity in education. We don’t learn as many things as hearing children in school because we don’t have enough teachers,» said Lemonia who, now in her early 20s, is at university studying applied information technology. «We started off with all these dreams and ideas, but everything is such a struggle that we are forced to take one day at a time and not think too much about the future.» Her mother, Eleni, is a teacher of sign language for hearing people at the Hellenic Federation for the Deaf. «We are all alone! I want my daughter to go abroad, to England, where she can study properly and then get a job. But I can’t afford to send her. The money we get from the State does not even cover our basic needs. If she stays here, she will probably end up working somewhere where they will just tell her what to do and pay minimum wage.» Eleni is polemic about deaf people’s rights. «I am sick of reading lips; or being told to lower my voice when I do try and speak. Hearing people should learn to sign! Most of my students [she is currently teaching a group of 35] are only interested in learning sign language in order to pad their professional resumes. They are not interested in learning to live with the deaf.» The problems run deep and in the age of information technology, when access to information and communication is so widespread, it seems preposterous that a group of people so dependent on technology are left out. «The only way we have to communicate with friends is via written messages on the mobile phone,» said Lemonia. «But the companies won’t give us a discount on the device or the charges.» In the UK, for example, the deaf are offered special telephone services that work through a computer and then are typed into a written message for the customer to read, at a discount price. «A simple hearing aid costs around 350,000 drachmas and the social security service only gives us a 100,000 drachma return on it,» explained Eleni. «That means that I would have to pay 500,000 drachmas out of my own pocket just to give get my daughter and myself the simplest form of technical support.» Markos, a third-year university student of social and educational policy, is worried about the future and whether he will be able to find work. «At least if we had deaf teachers at university it would be easier for us. We would be able to learn much more and we would not have to pay so much money to interpreters,» he argued. «After I get my degree, I would like to go abroad and learn more about deaf education. Then, maybe, I can come back to Greece and help other deaf people.» «A simple hearing aid costs around 350,000 drachmas and the social security service only gives us a 100,000 drachma return on it,» explained Eleni. «That means that I would have to pay 500,000 drachmas out of my own pocket just to give get my daughter and myself the simplest form of technical support.» Markos, a third-year university student of social and educational policy, is worried about the future and whether he will be able to find work. «At least if we had deaf teachers at university it would be easier for us. We would be able to learn much more and we would not have to pay so much money to interpreters,» he argued. «After I get my degree, I would like to go abroad and learn more about deaf education. Then, maybe, I can come back to Greece and help other deaf people.»
