Mrs. Stella Monsanto, president of the FEDA Foundation, which is a Foundation for People with Hearing Impairments, tells more about their special day, which was the last 23rd, that they used the Aruba National Library as a meeting place for the presentation of a book called “Dove kinderen op Suriname”.
Last September 23rd as we could see was a very busy day for the national library that was the roof for various activities including the one of the FEDA Foundation that also celebrated the World Day of People with Hearing impairments and the International Day of Sign Language. This day for them was one filled with the presentation of the book “dove kinderen op Suriname”, which is a book about children with disabilities and how they had to look for a study abroad as Aruba was not equipped to give them these studies. She also told how the book is based on the author’s real life perspective as the author’s sister also had to move abroad in order to continue her studies. They find this a very interesting and necessary topic for the future of education for our country in this area. Because of that when they were approached by Mr. José Miguel Donata, who is the author of the book, they had to accept it.
Suriname then has received several Arubans with hearing impairments who have moved there in order to find a better future in the area of their education at that time and is still amazed that Aruba still has gaps in the area of education for people with hearing impairments. They still do not have it together what is the next steps towards education for these people. They deserve a separate school where classes are focused on their needs so that they can be integrated into our society and grow on their own.
It is sad to see how they are still treated by our society where sometimes they are still called ‘deaf and dumb’, which is a big offence that can do them a lot of harm. They can be deaf, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have other abilities. Mrs. Stella Monsanto also points out the SDG and a child’s right to an inclusive education and calls on all leaders to focus more on providing the necessary education for people with disabilities.
Children and adults with a hearing problem should not only be included more in education, but also in the workplace so that they do not have to depend on the government, but can depend on themselves as well.
Finally, “I am glad to be able to have Mr. José Miguel Donata with a beautiful book of a true story of his sister’s life presented for the community.”