Sign language has become part of her

Feb 17, 2021 Leader Leading Personalities, Uncategorized 0

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Susan Mujjawa Ananda’s dream was to become an engineer after senior six. She did not know anything about the deaf or sign language. She only got to know about them when she was registering for a diploma in sign language at Kyambogo University. Mujjawa grew up an orphan after her father’s death. She lived with her mother in the village where she started nursery school. At the age of 8, her elder brother brought her to Kampala from the village; he then registered her from village at Mirembe Primary school in Nateete to begin her primary education, and also completed her primary seven at the same school.

She later joined Mugwanya Summit College for O and A’ Level. In senior six, she read Physics, Economics, Maths and Fine arts. Unfortunately, she did not pass well to get government sponsorship and her mother and siblings could not afford to pay the private student’s University tuition. Her sister who was upgrading at Kyambogo University told her about the sign language course and advised her to register, so that after completing, she could sponsor herself for the engineering course she wanted.

She did not like the idea at first but only registered at the school not to disappoint her sister. She confessed that the first month at the school of sign language were very tough times for her. She did not like the course and she was not learning anything since they were being taught by deaf lecturers. As time went on, she got herself together and picked interest in the course. She came out among the best students at the end of the course. Today, Mujjawa has become attached to the deaf and sign language that she is willing to go back to undertake a degree programme in journalism so that she can continue to service the people.
Mujjawa has interpreted sign language for 10 years. She started as an interpreter at Rwaramba Primary school in western Uganda. She worked at the school for two years helping out the deaf learners.

After two years in Rwaramba, she got another job at Kyambogo University as an interpreter for a student doing a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Arts for three years until another deaf student joined the university offering Bachelor’s Degree in Finance Accounting. She worked with this student for a year.She added that, much as she enjoyed giving this service to the students, the working conditions were unfavourable since the cost of living was high. She was earning Ugx 15,000 per day at Kyambogo University so she had to look for greener pastures.

Her friend Maureen Nabalirwa was working with WBS TV and had wanted someone to help with sign language interpretation then. She contacted her to give a hand on Week in focus, which was running on WBS TV before its closure.

By Irene Lamunu

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