Name: How learning sign language boosts climate inclusion
Uploaded: 2025-12-18T07:56:28.862Z
Duration: 3 min 9 s
Description: A teacher in Zimbabwe teaches sign language to help deaf communities prepare for climate challenges. He also raises awareness about solar power.

A teacher in Zimbabwe teaches sign language to help deaf communities prepare for climate challenges. He also raises awareness about solar power.

Harare

In Harare, Zimbabwe, sign language teacher Douglas Mapeta is working to bridge communication gaps for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, particularly in the context of increasing extreme weather events. Mapeta provides free sign language courses and shares information about sustainable practices and affordable solar solutions to ensure deaf residents can stay informed and communicate during power outages.

With only a small number of sign language teachers in Zimbabwe, these efforts are crucial for the inclusion of people with hearing loss, who make up about 4% of Africa's population according to the World Health Organization. Mapeta and his colleagues also promote sustainable agriculture and renewable energy, aiming to empower the deaf community to adapt to climate change.

How learning sign language boosts climate inclusion

Douglas Mapeta demonstrates the word weather in sign language. Today the class is focusing on words related to weather phenomena and climate change. Extreme weather events like floods and droughts are becoming more common in Zimbabwe. They can be even more devastating for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Once communication has not been relayed properly in terms of planning to those people who are deaf, it will be very difficult for them to know even the evacuation centers, even in terms of awareness that there is a disaster looming, it will be difficult for them to understand. According to the World Health Organization, around 4% of people in Africa live with disabling hearing loss. In Zimbabwe, sign language is one of the 16 official languages, but few have really mastered it, and Douglas Mapeta is one of the very few teachers. Climate change, it's a reality. So there must be ways now to change the way we think, to change our ways, to change our signs so that everyone, every time, is aware of what is happening. He also believes in changing his lifestyle to be more sustainable. Today, he and his colleague John Vudzi are visiting an urban farm. Vudzi lost his hearing as a child after contracting meningitis. He has been working at Douglas Mapeta's language school since 2018. Both are interested in renewable energies and smart agriculture. Here, they are learning how to grow lettuce and vegetables while serving water. I've been taught to use these things with a little water. Why? Climate change is changing and giving a few crops. It's easy to grow. If there are no challenges for people with disabilities, then I would learn to do this. Another important factor for communication is electricity. In Zimbabwe, power outages are frequent. That makes life especially difficult for deaf people, as they need light to communicate. Solar lamps can be out through here. Douglas Mapeta has taught sign language for more than a decade in the capital Harare and in rural areas. He offers free courses like here in the community of Nyanga. He tells them about low-cost solar panels, not to sell them, but as a helpful tip for deaf residents so they are free to communicate at all times.

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