Above: Boys busy chatting. Photo: Rob Maccoll

Speaking with Hands

A sign language dictionary and interpreters' course are being created for the first time in Fiji. Kate Nelson has spent the past three years working as a volunteer with the Fiji Association of the Deaf . Along with local research assistants, Apenisa Matairavula and Samisoni Weleilakeba, Kate has put together 2,000 signs. It's been a big undertaking.

In the long run the dictionary, which is funded by AusAID, will help to improve the range and quality of education. There's around 2,000 deaf or hearing-impaired people in Fiji but just two primary schools which cater for their needs. Interpreters have only been in high schools for the last two years.

'I think it's very significant that we've named the language and we now have a book that maybe we can use to lobby government,' says Kate. 'We'd like wider recognition of Fiji Sign Language and acknowledgment that it's the language of the deaf.'

Kate Nelson is in Fiji with AVI (Australian Volunteers International), which is funded by AusAID. For more information on volunteering www.ausaid.gov.au/partner/volunteer.cfm