Engineer Jonathan Tinat
Late Engineer Jonathan Tinat is the inspiration behind the establishment of the Deaf Resource Centre, Late Jonathan was the former President of Nigeria National Association of the Deaf. He died on the 12th March 2007 due to cerebral malaria infections. His leadership and dedication to the Deaf community is a legacy that is still fresh in our thoughts.
For this reason, in 2015 Timothy Tinat and a group of Deaf Friends and Sign Language Interpreters namely; Edison Shadebi, Jannice Radahl and Christer Borg from Sweden decided to setup a charity in loving memory of Late Jonathan Tinat.
Deaf Resource Centre is a nongovernmental organization that is established to promote the development of the deaf community in Nigeria through mobilization of resources that will open all kinds’ opportunities to deaf Nigerians and support them in achieving their dreams. We at Deaf Resource Centre discovered the importance of information as the bedrock of development and the absence of such accessible information for this community has affected their growth in all ramification.
Challenges
The D/deaf are disabled due to their inability to hear. Their kind of disability in not easily notice by the society which makes them missed out from any kind of programs that will supposedly planned to empower the citizens. The programs are mostly announced in Radio, Television or Newspapers and all the information coming through these platforms are not accessible to them. Other clusters of persons with disabilities might take advantage of opportunities but deaf will always be left at the mercy of friends, colleagues, family members or care givers to have such information.
Presently there are no deliberate attempt from the government and its agencies to think of these group of citizens and how they can be included in the development of this nation. An example to this is that the deaf also pays tax, but however the burden of their upkeep and development is still left in the hands of their family members. They have right to enjoy equal opportunities with other citizens irrespective of their impairment.
The deaf are also seen by our educational system as a group of persons that can only study special education, they can only do best as deaf teachers. What about Law? Accountancy, Banking or finance? What about medicine and Engineering and so on. Late Jonathan Tinat after studying mining Engineering he was told that he cannot be employed in the mining sector because he was a deaf and that shattered his dreams and aspiration which later makes him to be a class teacher. This should not be the future of our deaf children in Nigeria. The deaf have the right to be educated just like any Nigerian and any field of their choice to every level they want to attend therefor the systems in Nigeria should not limit them.
The right to family life: most discrimination and marginalization starts from home. So many families of the deaf have excommunicated their deaf children from being part of that unit of the society. Like they will always say, “She/He is a deaf we don’t know how to talk with him”. In countries of Europe parents with deaf children are offered courses in rehabilitation of vocational centers to learn basic sign language skills which will enable them to communicate with their children. If as a parent, you can’t learn how to communicate with your child then you already make them vulnerable to social vices because they will lack basic moral lessons that they should have gotten at home.
Religious discrimination and marginalization: this is one of the most disgusting sectors. Most religious institution like the church and the mosque do always to about God’s love but when it comes to acknowledging the deaf in their congregation they have less concern about it, they don’t take part in any of the moral lessons some only see them as an object of charity or an opportunity to test run the church ability to perform miracle. Recently in a chat with some deaf friends I ask this question; if you are asked to list out the things you want God to do for you, what will you pick in the order of priority? Some say better Job, some say money others say food, clothing or shelter. None among this deaf mentioned Miracle that God should open their ears. So, I asked them why they don’t ask for miracle they said that they are not sick. As a Christian I always think that salvation is important than miracle, however it can be a subject for another time.
Our Goals
We understand the need for information as a veritable tool of empowerment and we work to create access for the Deaf through innovative and attractive activities around their challenges which will enable social connections to end any form discrimination and abuse.
Our Values
In Deaf Resource Centre we believe in the ability of every Deaf citizen. We believe that Deaf people are intelligent, hardworking, honesty transparent and trustworthy and our values is built around this and we will work to provide the resources that will enhance such abilities
