Lack of support harms 2 deaf-mute sisters, father in Syria’s Hasakah
The father and his two Deaf-mute daughters Raghad and Fajer – North Press
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – The 17-year-old Raghad, along with her younger sister Fajer, is smiling and talking in sign language via WhatsApp video service to one of her friends who has taken refuge in Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
Both Raghad and her 12-year-old sister Fajer, are deaf-mute since birth.
Raghad Ali Ibrahim Tamer was born deaf-mute in 2006 without her parents noticing that until she was one year and a half, hence began their journey to treat her. Her sister, Fajer, was born in 2013 with the same health condition.
Ali Ibrahim Tamer, 50, Raghad and Fajer’s father a resident of the al-Nasra neighborhood in the city of Hasakah, northeast Syria, has five daughters and one son.
The father said, “The outbreak of the war stopped their treatment.”
Discovering the disease
He told North Press, “I have two daughters who are completely deaf-mute. After a year and a half we discovered our eldest daughter was deaf-mute. We saw many doctors in Hasakah to treat her, but to no use.”
Ali had to travel to Damascus with Raghad to treat her. “We traveled to Damascus to diagnose her illness. Doctors there confirmed that she was fully deaf-mute. We used a hearing aid device, but it was useless.”
The same thing happened again with his daughter Fajer. “In 2013, Fajer was born exactly like her sister, a deaf-mute.”
For the sake of treating his eldest daughter, Tamer contacted a doctor, who helps humanitarian cases, via email.
The doctor agreed with a local organization in Homs “to treat my daughter Raghad. However, with the eruption of the Syrian war in 2011, traveling was disrupted, and the organization pulled out of the region, so my daughter did not receive the treatment we hoped she would get in order to be able to hear and speak.”
Inclinations and Hobbies
Raghad studied two years in a school for the deaf and mute people where she learned some alphabets and words. She is interested in makeup, she does her house chores and does not go out much. Meanwhile, Fajer’s hobby is drawing. Her father encourages her and buys pencils, coloring pens, and sketchbooks for this purpose.
“Services provided at deaf and mute centers have declined over the last years whereas in the past they used to be offered for free. Private centers are expensive, and I cannot afford the expenses,” the father said.
Tamer is a government employee and receives a monthly salary of 125,000 Syrian Pounds (SYP, equals $15), which is not enough for a big family living in a rented house for $100 monthly. “It prevents me from providing more for my daughters,” the father said with a sigh.
He noted that some of his relatives and charity people help him pay the rent of the house.
The father feels deep pain when his two deaf-mute daughters are bullied or to see how the community treats Raghad and Fajer’s disease. He said, “It is very annoying and painful for me as a father.”
Nevertheless, Tamer has accepted his fate. “When we are at home, I never feel that Raghad and Fajer are incomplete. However, they do feel it, which breaks my heart,” he noted.
The lesser of two evils
Tamer describes his daughters’ situation as the lesser of two evils, saying, “There are more difficult and harsher cases than these of my daughters’… I am grateful they are not physically disabled, and they can take care of themselves and do their daily chores and even help their family members as well.”
He is displeased with the lack of support provided to his daughters. “We have not received any help or support for my daughters, whether financial or emotional, from NGOs, the Syrian government, or the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES),” he noted.
Tamer called on NGOs and any relevant authority to “help them and provide hearing aid for the years to come as they will remain alone after their mother and I pass away.”