Deaf in Acholi, Uganda An Anthropological Perspective on Becoming Knowledgeable and Skilful

This research investigates the learning and negotiating of skills and knowledge of D/deaf people in Acholi, Northern Uganda. Due to armed conflicts between 1986 and 2006, and insufficient medical facilities the region has the highest percentage of people with disabilities including Deaf people in Uganda. To cope with their everyday life the acquirement of skills and social and practical knowledge are central. The process of acquiring depends on resources for the perception of the environment. These resources like seeing or hearing can not be replaced or compen-sated by one another. Deaf people perceive the environment in a different way. From an emic perspective of Deaf people the empirical study focuses on their way of becoming skilful and knowledgeable in order to cope with challen-ges and possibilities of the everyday life in a rapidly changing post-war society.