Empowering and educating the deaf community for employment

eDeaf, a skills development training provider, aims to break down the stereotype that deaf people are different and less capable than hearing people at certain jobs. They also strive to help deaf individuals take advantage of various employment and education opportunities that exist, as well as create further opportunities for the deaf community to empower themselves.

Clockwork, the Johannesburg and London-based full-service agency, works closely with eDeaf to annually place deaf learners through the empowerment and employment programmes. With five learners per year sponsored by Clockwork, these students have gone on to lead successfully employed lives in the IT, retail and hygiene sectors upon completion of their skills development training.

Established in 2007, eDeaf is the leading provider of (deaf) skills development training in South Africa. Deaf-owned and staffed, they offer partnered solution approaches to provide a holistic, end-to-end service, to both the employer and the Deaf learner/employee in terms of training, recruitment, ongoing support services as well as interpreter services.

With five branches nationally, they are able to offer the ideal learning environment for deaf individuals to learn South African Sign Language (SASL) in their home language, with over 100 experienced and qualified Deaf facilitators and employees.

By adding value to the individuals they train, eDeaf creates employable Deaf individuals who are able to contribute to the economy, reducing reliance on social grants and thereby boosting the overall economy.

eDeaf specialises in working with the previously disadvantaged youth that are classified as ‘profoundly’ Deaf. This means Deaf students that have grown up in schools that have not been able to cater for their disability, as lip reading and hearing aids are not available. Any education from primary and high school to tertiary has been difficult or impossible for these individuals, which is why eDeaf is so important to their growth as valuable community members.

Break the stigma of working with the deaf and download the Deafinition app now to learn SASL and communicate with a deaf employee. Consider hiring a deaf graduate in your company or sponsor a learner to complete their skills development training, which results in BEE points for all companies.

Find out more about how your company can get involved at www.edeaf.co.za.