Deaf Awareness Week begins today, Sunday, May 15 with our main fund-raising event, a walk-a-thon under the patronage of Her Excellency, Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards.

The walk begins at 7.00 a.m. from opposite President's House and ends with a Breakfast Sale at the DRETCHI Compound. Our theme for this year is We Feel Needed When We Are Included.

The Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing-Impaired is in need of your support. After five years of dedicated service, 1987 witnessed the departure of Justice Evan Rees as Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing-Impaired.

As a no- nonsense Chairman, he immediately brought in a Government Organisation and Management team to streamline the Association into a more effective one. Subsequently additional staff was brought in to undertake the administrative and ancillary work, which was now on the increase.

During Justice Rees' tenure, the Association expanded its facilities at Cascade with more classrooms and dormitory facilities. The Association's audiological services were also expanded with the construction of a sound-proof room for hearing testing.

Evan Rees' departure from the Association was precipitated with his appointment as the country's first Ombudsman.

His successor, Dr Patrick Solomon, was the Chairman who gave the Association momentum, insight and thrust into the 21 st century. Dr Solomon's experience as a medical doctor, politician and diplomatic ambassador had endowed him with a vision for the Association.

Over a short period he was able to bring a team from Manitoba University for a curriculum development programme as related to the tutoring of the Hearing impaired.

The then principal of the Cascade School for the Deaf, Wallace Pedro became aware of Dr Solomon's enthusiasm, for the advancement of Deaf education and to have Trinidad and Tobago established as a centre for the Hearing Impaired.

Wallace Pedro as an educator of the Deaf, was fully aware of hearing impairment and the restraint it was capable of imposing upon the human person, specifically children. He thought it was the moral and social responsibility of our society to meet the needs of the Hearing-Impaired. He did not see why social status or financial disability should restrict the hearing impaired from realising their full potential.

DRETCHI was conceived by Wallace Pedro and became a reality through Dr Patrick Solomon. The current President is Dr David Quamina.

The sod turning ceremony for the DRETCHI complex was performed by Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Robinson on August 28, 1989 at 13c Wrightson Road , and the complex was opened on November 21, 1990 by His Excellence the President, Noor Hassanali.

The future of our hearing-impaired children depends upon those of us who are concerned with their plight and are willing to express that concern. We must afford them the opportunity to develop their potential so that their future would not be prejudiced by their impediment. In this regard our pursuit for the construction of a third wing to DRETCHI is imperative.

Meeting the needs of the Deaf is an unending task. It is a struggle of effort against limited financial resources for the provision of improved facilities, expanded services and educational techniques with the ultimate hope of a brighter tomorrow for the hearing impaired.

The loneliness and frustration which the silent world can unfold upon the deaf is a traumatic challenge to the human person. It is our social responsibility and moral responsibility to rally their plight.

The emotional trauma which parents experience when told that their child is hearing impaired is beyond expression. It is known in professional circles as "chronic sorrow". At DRETCHI we have come face to face with this pain, frustration and sometimes hopelessness experienced by parents.

Although our empathy cannot eliminate the impairment, we feel confident that through our experienced staff, and the involvement of the parent, a hearing-impaired child can grow and develop into a productive person, capable of finding his or her rightful place in society.

Free hearing aids

Over the past two years the state has provided the necessary funds for the provision of free hearing aids to citizens including infants. Our laboratory facilities at DRETCHI are equipped for the manufacture of ear moulds for the fitting of hearing aids.

During the year 2004, 1038 persons had hearing tests done at DRETCHI. Of this number 513 were in need of hearing aids and these were fitted free of charge through the Government's programme and the services provided by DRETCHI.

At present the Association's premises at 13c Wrightson Road , consist of two wings from a common atrium. The original plans included a third wing but such was the financial constraint in 1991 that its construction had to be put on hold.

There is a dire need at present for the provision of vocational skills such as pastry making, printing, plumbing, dressmaking and the construction of a workshop for our young hearing-impaired. They must be made employable.

When, you extend the hand of inclusion to the Hearing-Impaired, they feel needed. Hence the theme for this year's Deaf Awareness Week. The Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired is in need of your support.