Nepal's Deaf Culture

A friend of mine wants to know why deafness is so prevalent in Nepal, and why Kathmandu has become a hot spot for deaf culture. The answer is a combination of many factors. There is a much higher incidence of deafness in Nepal than in the developed world. This is partially due to physical factors, such as poverty, lack of adequate health care, contaminated water, and illnesses such as meningitis, untreated ear infections and rubella.

Less than fifty years ago, deaf Nepalis were incredibly isolated and had no access to sign language or deaf culture. In the 1960's, the Naxal School for the Deaf, Nepal's first deaf school (where I teach), began in Kathmandu. Nepali Sign Language was developed with the help of Peace Corps volunteers from the U.S. Because more isolated villages, both in the mountains and in the Terai, have no resources for deaf children, the children are sent to deaf schools in major cities such as Kathmandu, Pokhara and Gorkha. There are students at the Naxal school from Nepal's isolated far west, the southern Terai, and the mountainous Himalayan region, as well as the Kathmandu Valley and elsewhere.

Deaf culture thrives in deaf schools. This is the case in America as well, where places such as Gallaudet University and deaf boarding schools become incubators for the deaf community. The Naxal School is the same way. It's a boarding school, and students become assimilated into Kathmandu's thriving deaf culture. After finishing school, there is no incentive to return to their villages, where they have few resources. The downside of this is the potential erosion and loss of their traditional culture. For example, a deaf person from a Tamang village may become distant from the Buddhist practices and other traditional rituals of his or her home village.

Because Nepali sign language is a relatively recent development, and factors such as lack of education and poverty limit many older deaf in rural Nepali settings, there is a whole generation of "lost" Nepali deaf. For example, in my first few weeks here, I met a seventy-year old deaf tailor who was learning sign language for the first time. In Tamang villages in the Langtang Himalaya, I met middle-aged and older deaf people who use only a few rudimentary signs to communicate. They will never get married, and they have very few opportunities. And yet in the poorest of these villages, there are many others with disabilities, and even the most able often lack opportunities as well.

The current generation of deaf people have a whole new world of opportunity. Now there are deaf marrying other deaf, which would've been unheard of in the past, because it was believed that a deaf couple would not be able to provide for themselves, and that their karmic misfortunes would be compounded and passed on to their children. There are more than a half dozen locations for the Bakery Cafe, a restaurant chain with deaf waiters and cooks. There is a deaf politician in the Constitution Assembly. Deaf people have become trekking guides and run their own shops. There are regular parades, speeches and even protests on behalf of deaf rights.

Part of what makes Nepal's deaf culture so vibrant is its relative youth. Like deaf culture in America, it is in a constant and dynamic state. There is truly a wonderful opportunity for cross-cultural exchange between deaf in America and Nepal, and I hope that more deaf Americans can find ways to visit Nepal, and vice versa.