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SIGNS@HWU is a group of researchers who focus on sign language studies and Deaf Studies. We are situated in the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot-Watt University. SIGNS@HWU was established as a cluster of the Centre for Translation and Interpreting Studies in Scotland, to profile the world-leading interdisciplinary research being conducted at Heriot-Watt University.
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The lived experiences of deaf people in Kakuma Refugee Camp
  • Visit the project website
  • Relevance: Current
  • migration/refugees
    mobilities
    sign multilingualism
    deaf space
  •  

Kenya is a country in Africa with a particularly high refugee population. Kakuma Refugee Camp counts over 185,000 registered residents from 13 Sub-Saharan African countries. There are organisations, such as Handicap International, that cater to the needs of people with disabilities in the camps (including deaf people), offering individual and community-based rehabilitation programmes, and basic education.

The project investigates:

  1. how deaf people of different national and ethnic backgrounds produce deaf spaces, both within the camp and with deaf Kenyans outside of the camp (such as in deaf people’s homes, in public spaces in the camp, in schools and in courses)
  2. experiences of mobility and immobility in the camp and within Kenya;
  3. communication strategies with hearing refugees and service-providers
  4. processes of language learning
  5. ideologies concerning Kenyan and non-Kenyan (sign) languages.

SIGNS@HWU people on this project:

Amandine le Maire

Project partners and funders:

This project is funded by the European Research Council, Project ID 714615
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