Suranga Udari Recorded as the First Female Sign Language Reporter in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s first ever sign language female reporter, Ms.Suranga Udari placed her name in the history of Sri Lanka, in reporting a very important environmental issue on facemask disposal prevalent in the Hikkaduwa coastal area of Galle district through sign language. She reported this issue to the MediaCorps Watch online news program using sign language and mobile journalism techniques. MediaCorps Watch is a program extremely dedicated to encourage marginalized segments in the community to report their issues and amplify it to the national level.

Suranga Udari is an employee of Sri Lanka Federation of Deaf (SLCFD). She lives in Ahangama and worked as a Graphic Designer for seven years. She has completed her formal education up to the G.C.E Ordinary Level at Shariputhra College Ahangama in Galle and followed a yearlong diploma in Computer Software at Lake House. Despite her passion and interest in the field of media, none of the media houses in Sri Lanka provided her the opportunity to pursue a career in reporting, owing to her disability.

Suranga Udari: The first female deaf reporter in Sri Lanka

September 20, 2020 was the turning point of Suranga Udari’s life. Yes, she was nominated by SLCFD as a participant for the Vibrant Voices program organized by Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF). The goal of the program is to provide new media tools and technology to the organizations working for women & marginalized communities to report their issues and engage with digital advocacy to achieve their common goal and widen the space in the media content. She underwent 5 days intensive residential training by SDJF MoJo trainers and was provided with a MoJo kit.

“I never had any experience in creating videos prior to participating in the training and I would like to extend my gratitude to SDJF. It was difficult at the beginning, yet with time I was able to pick up the skill fast with the immense help of SDJF and their mentors. I had some experience in photography and I believe that might have helped me in this situation as well. This skill is very useful to bring light to the deaf community in unveiling their hidden problems signed, Suranga.

Suranga Udari in the field while participating to the VV program

As per the Department of Census and Statistics 2012 report, Sri Lanka has a deaf population of more than 400,000. This is a very significant number and we could extend our support and solidarity to overcome their challenges by providing facilities and equipment to make them more empowered.

According to the SLCFD, access to quality formal education, lack of equal employment opportunities, obtaining driving license to facilitate their own travel, lack of technological support for sign language to conform with the recent developments and technological advancements are some key challenges faced by the deaf community in Sri Lanka. They are a marginalized and voiceless community in our society due to their hearing and speaking impairment. There are almost minimal or no facilities in government institutions to support and facilitate them with sign language, since Sri Lanka barely has trained sign language specialists. At a time when they were struggling to express themselves, Vibrant Voices assisted them with Mobile storytelling. It not only empowered Suranga Udani but also enlightened the entire deaf community.

Mr. Brayan Kodithuwakku, the President of SLCFD, asserted that it is a great achievement for the deaf community, as it has its first deaf female reporter. This achievement is an honor for the entire community. “Actually, I am thankful to SDJF and the Vibrant Voices program for this opportunity in helping to widen our space to create our own content with our own language without any third person intervention. Moreover, the mentors and the SDJF staff paid close attention to our deaf participants to make the learning process smooth, as there was a lot of new technological knowledge we had to grasp” Brayan added.

“Earlier, the videos which we uploaded into Facebook were not of good quality, but with this exposure, the deaf community will be able to report news with good standards.  Moreover, we feel this will be a great way to communicate our problems to the government and persuade them to uphold our rights,” added Brayan. This would definitely shape up the future of the deaf communities in Sri Lanka for greater good.

Accessibility to information is vital and there is hope for the deaf community in Sri Lanka to take up their next step with this incredible turning point. It is indeed remarkable to see the first deaf reporter being a female. Notwithstanding, there are distinct issues deaf women have to grapple with on a daily basis. Reporting on its own seems a daunting task and Suranga has brought a glimpse of hope for the deaf community as she will be a role model for many young deaf people. On the other hand, the mainstream media fails when they do not make their media accessible to reporters with hearing impairment and reporters with other disabilities. It is high time for mainstream media to consider taking reporters from differently abled communities to bring the real stories into the fore.

Suranga Udari in the field while participating to the VV program

Vibrant Voices together with MediaCorps Watch are proud in setting such a record in Sri Lanka. Both programs are designed and implemented by Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum in partnership with IREX under the project Media Empowerment for a Democratic Sri Lanka (MEND) funded by USAID.

“My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn't prevent you doing well, and don't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.” -Professor Hawking-

Written by- Sumudu Perera