The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa [Paperback]

 

 

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We pay too little attention to the deaf. When we knowingly meet those who are, there's a tendency to raise our voice. If the person is wearing aids, that's a blast of sound made unbearable by the wearer. We are used to filtering out "background" noise when in conversation, but the hearing aid wearer can't make that distinction. All sounds wash over them at nearly equal strength. When they seem to fail to comprehend our meaning, we raise our voice again, compounding the problem. Little wonder they surreptitiously turn off the aid and withdraw. You have failed to understand the situation.

All this is the case in the developed world where technology is available to help the disadvantaged. Transfer the conditions to a small village in Zambia, Africa, where hearing aids, even electricity, are unknown. Josh Swiller, who was profoundly deaf by the age of four, made that transfer. He became a Peace Corps volunteer in Mununga, where a tiny village had burgeoned into a dispersed town of fifty thousand. Although sent to induce the villagers to dig wells for fresh water, local politicians blocked him. Turning to health care and teaching deaf children, he tried to immerse himself in the local society. The deaf, especially children, are ignored by the people as being essentially useless.

Settled in, he is given a housemaid, and a young boy attaches himself to Josh. But it's Jere, a health worker from another tribe who becomes his real contact. Working together in the local "clinic", they become fast friends. Josh struggles to learn the language and to become part of the local community. Advised by Peace Corps "Administration" that his best role is in "cultural exchange", a swimsuit copy of "Sports Illustrated" becomes the channel for communication. At least with the men. The surrounding forest is nearly denuded of wildlife, but there are bananas. Banana wine becomes a lubricant to communication when beer is unavailable or too dear. The locals, expecting much from a white man from the US are perplexed over his hearing disability. They are uncertain of how to deal with him, but they think he should perform significant deeds. Josh struggles to gain understanding and to assume a respected role in the village. After all, he represents the world's greatest power. His background and ambition to address the needs of the village bring confrontations with local leaders. That isn't their way, as he quickly discovers.

He's a caring person, in a place where caring is virtually unknown. An accidental death leads to a ferocious lynch mob, and Josh witnesses the retribution. Serious injuries are inflicted for what seem minor crimes. AIDS is present, but those afflicted are, like the deaf children, ignored and scorned. Able workers are off at the copper mines and civil unrest in neighbouring Zaire brings hordes of immigrant refugees looking for work. But Josh cannot pay, nor will the village. One man, Boniface, seeks local power and uses Josh as a foil to help gain it. A confrontation is inevitable, and the book's opening and closing depict it graphically.

Swiller's concern for his neighbours in this remote place is vividly conveyed. He has numerous issues to cope with, and few resources but his personal drive to help them. The first rainy season with its hordes of disease-bearing mosquitoes is a soul-searing shock. Children under five are particularly vulnerable and he's forced to witness funeral fires that "dotted the night like traffic signals for ghosts". With a sterling command of language, he imparts his feelings with unforgettable prose. "Cultural exchange" fails to lead him into some form of "Neo-colonialism". He realises the impractical nature of that ideal, and realises the villagers have more to teach him than he can ever understand. His homeland has little to offer Mununga's people, and he dreads leaving them and himself unfulfilled. Although he's angry over his failures, he dearly loves the land and the people. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Working as a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote African village is not an easy undertaking in any situation. For an inexperienced, idealistic and, in addition, deaf person, such an adventure makes for an extraordinary story. Josh Swiller spent close to two years in northern Zambia in the village of Mununga, one of the most deprived villages in a poor region. Referred to by locals as "Gomorrah", a place with no hope and rumoured to have the most "ndoshi", witchdoctors, many wondered why this young American had come amongst them. His experiences and encounters, his learning by trial and error, and, most of all, his falling in love with the village and Africa, is the content of this unusual and highly readable memoir.

Swiller was part of the first group of Volunteers to work in Zambia in 1994. Creating water and sanitation systems were the primary objective; educating and motivating the local people was the rationale. Getting villagers to dig wells turned out to be a bigger challenge than Swiller had anticipated. Local politics, tribal strife and natural distrust of outsiders undermined any initiative from the start. It did not help that the Peace Corps rules insisted on no money being brought into such a project. The local people who had never seen a white person, assumed "Ba Josh" to be wealthy but too mean spirited to share his money with them.

Life for the villagers was hard. Periods of hunger during the dry season alternated with an onslaught of flooding and disease during the rainy season. The small clinic was understaffed and completely inadequate in dealing even with the most basic services. Swiller's description of village life is vivid and his sensitive portrayal of the people he shares his time with is personal and realistic. Augustine Jere, the health worker, stands out as a friend who helps Josh adjust to local habits and conventions. With the well digging facing major roadblocks, Swiller assists Jere in the clinic. Jere's advice is not to address any problem head-on but to move towards it like a "snake in the grass". Unfortunately, Josh doesn't always adhere to the advice, with dramatic and even dangerous consequences. He is very honest about his mistakes and recognizes that part of his vulnerability is based on his own inadvertent or short sighted actions. He has become a pawn in the local power plays. He receives some reassurance when he finds out that other volunteers are facing comparable difficulties. The new main aim, they are advised by Peace Corps officials is "cultural exchange".

The author explains that his deafness was a condition he had always found hard to cope with. Thanks to intensive speech therapy as a child he spoke well and was able to lip read in optimal conditions. Yet, despite these and his hearing aid, he was not able to overcome his feeling of being always sidelined and marginalized in conversations and groups. Living in rural Zambia changed his experience and outlook completely. For the first time, he states, deafness was not an issue for him nor for those he was communicating with. Having learned the basics of the local language, he discovered that the local tradition of talking one at a time and facing the addressee made social contacts a lot easier than he'd ever known. He discovered a new freedom and happiness that could not be shattered by any, how ever disastrous, event that occurred in Mununga.

Despite many disappointments and even dangerous situations Swiller called Mununga home. His deeply felt emotions for this part of Africa shine through his writing. Publishing his memoir a decade later suggests that Africa has left a deep mark on his soul and mind. [Friederike Knabe]

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