Training family groups in remote Amazon villages to use sign language and to replicate it
- Solution
- Peruvian Sign Language for disadvantaged deaf people
- Organization
- Peace and Hope Diaconal Ministry Association
- Country of Implementation
- Peru
- Region
- Latin America & Caribbean
- Subregion
- South America
- Start Year
- 2012
- First published
- 03.12.2023

Solution details
People
“Through the learning of sign language, the communicative skills and competencies of deaf people have been strengthened. ” Leonor Milagros Sovero Habich, Director of Disability Programmes, Paz y Esperanza
In 2012 the Asociación Ministerio Diaconal Paz y Esperanza, a Peruvian NGO, originated a course to teach Peruvian Sign Language as the first language and written Spanish as the second language to families with deaf children in Nueva Cajamarca, a village in the Amazon rainforest region. The courses take place three times a week and cover topics from basic sign language to communicating in daily situations as well academic disciplines such as mathematics, geography, and history. The courses also develop an understanding of deaf culture for the students and their families.
Problems Targeted
In remote regions of Peru the lack of bilingual schools for hearing-impaired children prevents them from exercising their basic rights, such as learning, working, and socializing.
Solution, Innovation and Impact
Founded in Peru in 1996, P az y Esperanza is a human rights organization inspired by Christian principles and values. Since then it has evolved into a community of independent organizations in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, with sister organizations in the United States and United Kingdom. Paz y Esperanza’s work focuses on people living in extreme poverty and/or affected by violence and injustice, especially children, women, and people with disabilities. In 2020 the organization launched a project in the San Martin region of the Amazon to provide hearing-impaired children the opportunity to learn Peruvian Sign Language as a first language and Spanish as a second language. The process was initiated by enlisting a deaf community from the Peruvian coast to share their experiences in the Amazon. The 40-minute classes take place three times a week using a curriculum is based on the experience of Peru’s Beethoven School for the Deaf. Starting with four families, the group of participants grew to more than 50 families. As the area has a migrant population, the number of deaf people who have gone through the learning process has increased to more than 150 since 2020. In 2023 the project had 60 participants, including both children and adults.
Funding, Outlook and Transferability
The low-cost service is funded by families, local communities, and the education sector. A local community, once established, should then take over to lead further expansion and replication in other places. In this way the project will reach other less accessible areas in Peru, such as the Andes and other areas of the Amazon. (Awardee 2024)
Media
Pictures
Videos
Life Story
THE STORY OF JHANINA VASQUEZ ALVA, BENEFICIARY OF PAZ Y ESPERANZA’S PERUVIAN SIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMME
“I would like to be with other deaf people and learn more.”
My name is Jhanina, I am 27, and I am deaf. During my school years I felt ashamed of being deaf. I couldn’t understand what people were saying to me, and when they wrote to me I still couldn’t understand because I couldn’t read. In my family they spend more time speaking and use sign language very little. I learned about the sign language programme promoted by the organization Paz y Esperanza when the Municipal Office for the Care of People with Disabilities in Habana sent us an invitation. I went to that meeting with my dad, and there I met other deaf people. At that time they asked me for my name, and I didn’t know how to respond. They asked me how old I was, and I managed to understand the question and answer my age, even though I didn’t know the sign language numbers. After the meeting my dad encouraged me to learn sign language with the person I met. Little by little I discovered more signs, and I started to enjoy it. In the future, I would like to learn sign language better, especially for writing. I would like to be with other deaf people and learn more. We hope for a centre just for the deaf, where I can have the opportunity to teach newcomers. I would like to transmit everything I learn in class to other deaf children so when they ask me a question, I will be ready to respond to them in sign language.
Related information
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Organization
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