LB Thapa

About 90 per cent of people with hearing and speech loss live in the least developed countries. Due to poor infrastructure, the people living with hearing and speech loss remain isolated, neglected, and ignored. In a situation like this, these people found themselves helpless, vulnerable, and with no secure future ahead of them.  
The subject of hearing and speech loss has already become serious in the country as 16.6 per cent of people who live in the country suffer from acute hearing and speech-related problems---This is one of the highest in Asia.

At a time when many hearing and speech impaired Nepalis face a myriad of problems, Heaven Upadhyay, 20, has shone in the international arena and has made us proud.
Heaven Upadhyay, a resident of Talkot Rural Municipality of Bajhang district, has won the most covetous international award Miss Khamoshi DEAF-2021. This is the fifth time that La Gravitea Café of Jamshedpur, India has organised a competition for hearing and speech impaired people. Every year this competition is organised by the Gravitea Café Jamshedpur to encourage the people who are living with hearing and speech impairment.
About 77 participants from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria participated in the competition. As the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a spanner in the competition, the entire competition was held online. The main subject of the competition was "Creative activity of hearing and speech impaired people for the betterment of environment and society".

Speaking with the scribe Heaven Upadhyay, the winner of Miss Khamoshi DEAF-2021, said: "I'm very proud to have won the award for the first time in my life. This award has instilled a sense of self-confidence and self-belief in my personality. Moreover, I think this award has entrusted more responsibility to my shoulders. To sum up, I must say that Miss Khamoshi DEAF-2021 has been remarkable in so many ways and I'm filled with gratitude and pride".
 
Different Format
When asked about the competition, Upadhyay said, "Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the format of this year's competition was different from previous ones. This time the organiser had asked to submit the entries from the participants rather than their physical presence. The participants had to write a full-fledged essay describing that during COVID-19 what hearing and speech impaired people can do to improve the environment and make this society a better place to live in".

The competition was held in two categories: the first category was National Level and the second category was the International Level. Among 77 participants, finally, only 15 participants were shortlisted for the final. Among them, Sweta Goswami, 21, from Bangalore became the winner in the National category. However, Heaven Upadhyay from Nepal became the winner in the International category. Likewise, Laxmi Maharjan, 25, of Kathmandu, has won the title of First Runner-up of Miss Khamoshi DEAF-2021.

Heaven Upadhyay had never thought that one day she would be able to win an International award for her creativity. Although she has always been a very hardworking girl.      
“Right from my childhood, I’m a thoughtful girl. I love reading and taking interest in several creative activities. Writing essays and doing some philanthropic activities are a part of my life. Thus, when I came to know about an international competition to be held in India and I have to write an essay and a two-minute-long video then I was quite excited. About that time I thought I could do it much better---I was full of self-confidence”, said jubilant Upadhyay.

"After much contemplation, I decided to shoot a video. I went to a nearby shop and purchased some food, sanitisers, and face masks. Then I went out to the street and doled out food to poor and hungry people on the street. I did also give them sanitisers. I put masks on the faces of several blind people on the street of Kathmandu. The video was long but I had to make it short to fit in two minutes only. This was a very challenging task for me because I wanted to include everything. Then with a heavy heart, I edited my video and cut out many scenes which I didn't want to. Anyway, after being done with editing, finally, the two-minute video was ready and when I saw the completed video, it satisfied me---I was more than happy".

 Heaven Upadhyay’s scintillating success of winning an International Award has encouraged many people who are hearing and speech impaired. Upadhyay has proved that Nepali girls who are hearing and speech impaired should come forward to face the world. Because these girls have the potentiality to show their creativity to the world. Upadhyay’s success has also woken up the government to take the issues of hearing and speech impaired people of the country more seriously. And develop a better environment for the people who are unable to hear and speak.
 
No Regular Education
Unfortunately, in Nepal, regular education for the hearing impaired comes to an end in the 10th grade. Currently, there are 22 schools for the deaf in Nepal. Among them, only three schools render 12 years of school education. However, Central Higher Secondary School for the Deaf in Kathmandu provides higher education i.e. Bachelor’s degrees in Education and Management.
 Heaven Upadhyay herself is an 11th-grade student at Central Higher Secondary School for Deaf at Naxal, Kathmandu does not look enthusiastic at the poor infrastructure available for the hearing and speech-impaired students.

 “Until date, there is not a single private school for the deaf in the country. However, it is estimated that there is over a 300,000 deaf population. Only a few deaf people who live in urban areas are slightly benefited as they can go to schools and proceed with further education. However, the situation in rural areas is miserable indeed. Nepal needs more professional Sign Language teachers and study materials. The most important problem is that many hearing and speech impaired people face unemployment problems. The government must address the most pertinent issues related to hearing and speech impaired people," added Upadhyay.
 The government has allocated a five per cent disability quota for differently able people. However, most of the benefits of this quota go to people with different disabilities but not to people with hearing and speech impairments.

"It is my solemn desire to go for pursuing study abroad. This is the only way I can translate my dream into reality. I want to gain the best possible education in this field. After doing my PhD, I would like to dedicate my life to creating a much better environment for the people who want to gain a better education. I want to mobilise every available resource to develop a robust infrastructure for the benefit of people with hearing and speech impairment. Let me add here that I'm very much inspired by the selfless work of Mahabir Pun, Dr Govinda KC, and Pushpa Basnet-- they are my role model indeed," added Upadhyay.
 The elated parents of Heaven Upadhyay look optimistic about the future of their daughter. "We live in Bajhang, a Far Eastern region of the country. Our society has still not come out of superstition and regressive thinking.

Discrimination
In a society like ours, where discrimination against daughters is rampant, one can understand how the hearing and speech-impaired daughters are treated. "When we decided to educate our daughters, we bore the brunt of people's sarcastic taunts and criticism. But we were adamant about our decision of equipping our daughters with the best possible education," said Shanti Awasthy, a mother and also a senior staff nurse at Bajhang District hospital.

 "We are fully committed to fulfilling our daughter's dream to get higher education abroad. She wants to pave the way for the people who are willing to move forward with all their sincerity and perseverance. Before she could do anything for the people who live with hearing and speech impairment, it is utmost necessary that my daughter should reach the highest pedestal of success. Only then will she be able to help others," opined Ramesh Prakash Upadhyay, a proud father who teaches at a college in Bajhang.

 It is needless to reiterate that Heaven Upadhyay has given us a reason to cheer about as she participated in an international competition and won first place. Let us hope that Upadhyay's dream of pursuing higher education abroad will be fulfilled shortly. So that she will be able to work for those people who are hearing and speech impaired and want to have higher education at home.
 
(LB Thapa is a Pokhara-based freelance writer and author. He can be reached at
writerlbthapa@gmail.com)