FROM NIGERIA TO FIJI – ANDREW FOSTER TOUCHES

ANDREW FOSTER
TOUCHES ETERNITY–
FROM NIGERIA TO FIJI
‘Bunmi Aina
Director, Diversity and Equity Programs
Gallaudet University
Black History Month Presentation
University of Cincinnati
February 25, 2016
Andrew Foster Touches Eternity 1

Prelude
• What I am about to share is material from a chapter I contributed to the
book It's a Small World: International Deaf Spaces and
Encounters (Friedner, M; Kusters, A editors. Gallaudet University Press
2015) titled Andrew Foster Touches Eternity: From Nigeria to Fiji
• You will find my article in chapter 11 of the book, page 127

Discovering Andrew
Jackson Foster
• Born in Ensley, Alabama in 1925
• Deafened at 11 by spinal meningitis
• Attended Alabama School for the Negro
Deaf, Talladega AL
• Was first Black Deaf person to graduate
from Gallaudet, in 1954, with a degree in
education
• First Black Deaf person to earn a master’s
degree, in education, from Eastern
Michigan University
• Earned another master’s degree in missions
and education from Seattle Christian Pacific
College.
• Photo credit: Faith Foster. Andrew Foster
Family Albums

Discovering Andrew Jackson Foster
• From 1957 to 1987, Foster established 32 mission schools and churches
for Deaf people in 13 African countries
• He also established churches in 4 African countries
• He spent 6 months every year in Africa establishing and running his
schools and the other 6 months in the US raising funds to support them
• Consequently, Foster is widely regarded as the “father of Deaf education
in Africa”.
• Died at 62 in an air crash in Rwanda on December 3, 1987.

The Andrew Foster Agenda
• Andrew Foster firmly believed that the most important part of a person
is his eternal soul
• Thus, his original objective was to bring the Christian Gospel to Deaf
people in Africa
• “His original idea of coming to Ghana was to guide Deaf children to God” –
Elizabeth Tetteh-Ocloo, 2nd hearing teacher Foster hired in Ghana.
• This passion to reach the souls of Deaf Africans was his driving force
• He operated through a not-for-profit called Christian Mission for Deaf
Africans (now Christian Mission for the Deaf)

Foster Agenda meets African Reality
• Foster first landed in Liberia, from where he relocated to Ghana in 1957
• He realized that there was no education in place for deaf people; and,
except for those deafened later in life, most were illiterate
• He realized that illiteracy would hinder his primary spiritual mission
• So providing education now became a fundamental objective
• He widened his vision to include providing literacy and vocational skills
by establishing MISSION schools

Adjusting the Agenda to the Reality
• Foster realized that, to advance Deaf Africans spiritually, he must first
advance them educationally before proceeding pari passu
• He established 32 mission schools in 13 African countries over 30 years
• He found and trained Deaf and hearing people willing to work with
Deaf people
• He then focused on training Deaf Africans as teachers, administrators
and ministers at his training center in Mampong-Akwapim, Ghana, which
he subsequently moved to Ibadan, Nigeria

The Foster Agenda through the Decades
Foster signing “Jesus” with pupils at Ibadan Mission
School for the Deaf, Ibadan, Nigeria, 1960’s. Photo:
Andrew Foster Family Albums
Foster signing “Jesus” with pupils at Goma Mission
School for the Deaf, Goma, Congo D.R., 1980’s
Photo: Andrew Foster Family Albums

The Andrew Foster Model
• Training and developing a corps of Deaf African talent himself
• Engaging the local communities to develop a sense of ownership
• Engaging local and international partners in education and development
• Building and sustaining coalitions
• Building on Deaf verisimilitude, or the “deaf-same” effect

Defining Deaf Verisimilitude
• Deaf verisimilitude is also known more simply as “deaf-same”
• Deaf-same encompasses the spectrum of the Deaf experience
• Deaf-same transcends cultural, national, and other differences
• Deaf-same is defined as:
• An affinity or kinship arising from shared deafness

Deaf-Same, First Hand
• Interviews with some protégés of Andrew Foster elicited certain
responses:
• He was a father figure Deaf Africans looked up to and aspired to be like
• Most of us who had met Foster wanted to be like him. We were impressed that a
deaf man could go to college and earn advanced degrees
• He had a unique way of cultivating that special bond with deaf people
• Meeting him helped us to see the light
• My association with Foster gave me the confidence to pursue and earn two
degrees almost as he had done

Making Meaning of the Responses
• An affinity was built between Foster and the Deaf people he met in
those African countries he worked in
• This affinity was based on shared deafness and its psychosocial
ramifications
• Deafness undergirded their commonality

Making Meaning from Memory
• I met Andrew Foster as a boy one Saturday in late 1974 when he visited
Ibadan School for the Deaf in Nigeria
• Ibadan School for the Deaf (ISD) was founded by one of Foster’s
hearing protégés, Adeline Oyesola; and is distinct from Foster’s own
Ibadan Mission School for the Deaf (IMSD)
• His distinctive Volkswagen van was recognized and he was mobbed by all
the pupils before he had even stepped out
• He was clearly seen as a hero by all in the school
• There was a clear “deaf-same” process at play in the interactions

The Nigeria-Fiji
Connection I
Matthew Adedeji
BA, History, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,
Nigeria
BA/Diploma in Social Work, The Open University,
Milton Keynes, England, 2008
MA/PGDip/PG Cert in Practice Education (Social
Work), Goldsmith University London, 2014
Project Officer, Christian Mission for the Deaf
(CMD), Ibadan, Nigeria
Went to Fiji in 1997 to Pastor the Christian
Fellowship of the Deaf, an arm of the Fiji Gospel
Church in Samabula, Suva, Fiji
Co-founder, Gospel School for the Deaf, Samabula,
Suva, Fiji
Team Manager, Sensory Impairment Service, Adult
Social Care Service, Croydon Council, London, UK
Photo: Matthew Adedeji

Discovering Matthew Adedeji
• Adedeji was deafened at age 7
• Adedeji met Andrew Foster in 1984 when Foster visited his high school
in Ibadan, Nigeria
• Adedeji recalls Foster was “inspirational, blew everyone away”
• Adedeji clicked with Foster immediately, and eventually found
employment at Foster’s CMD in Ibadan as a project officer after he
finished college in 1994
• In 1996, he volunteered to work with the Christian Fellowship for the
Deaf in Suva, Fiji

Matthew Adedeji’s Agenda
• Adedeji said: “Foster was the inspiration and a good example for
influencing my decision to go to Fiji”
• Adedeji firmly believed that the most important part of a person is his
eternal soul
• Thus, his objective in Fiji was to spread the Christian Gospel to Deaf
Fijians
• This passion to reach the souls of Deaf Fijians was his driving force

The Reality in Fiji
• Little to no value was placed on the education of Deaf children in Fiji
• The presence of a Deaf child in a Fijian family usually led to family
disharmony and parental separation
• Deaf children would usually be sent away to live with grandparents or
members of the extended family and put to work on the farm or as
domestics
• The right of the Deaf child to aspire to and pursue post-primary
education was never a consideration

Adedeji Agenda meets Fijian Reality
• Adedeji discovered during one year of traveling throughout Fiji visiting
communities and “special schools” that there was no education in place
for deaf people
• Deaf Fijians lacked self-esteem due to illiteracy and low expectations
• Accordingly, providing Deaf-appropriate education became Adedeji’s
fundamental objective
• Adedeji decided to turn to someone with a background in Deaf
Education
• Meanwhile, he founded Gospel School for the Deaf (GSD) in Samabula,
Suva, Fiji in January 1999

The Pioneer Pupils
Matthew Adedeji (second left) with Alex Dunn
(left) and Maretina Mareko (3rd right, rear) with
the first set of pupils at Gospel School for the
Deaf, Samabula, Suva, Fiji
January 1999
Photo: Matthew Adedeji

The Nigeria-Fiji
Connection II
Olawale (‘Wale) Alade
B.Ed. (Sp. Ed/Counselling), University of
Ilorin
BSc (Psychiatry/Mental Health) Kingston
University, London
Succeeded Adedeji as Project Officer, CMD,
Ibadan, Nigeria
Co-founder, Gospel School for the Deaf,
Samabula, Suva, Fiji
Mental Health Nurse, Springfield University
Hospital, Tooting Bec, London.
Photo: Wale Alade

Discovering Wale Alade
• Alade was deafened at age 16
• Alade never met Andrew Foster, but was a student of his work and was
familiar with oral/signed history from Foster’s protégés, including
Adedeji himself
• Alade was about to begin graduate school at the University of Ibadan
when the call from Adedeji came
• Alade was reluctant to abandon his graduate studies, but, given his skills
and the need, he felt called
• In October 1999, he took over the reins at GSD as Head Teacher

The Foster Model Works in Fiji
• Adedeji and Alade, students of Foster’s methods, modelled his methods
and approaches
• Like Foster, they engaged the local communities and built local, national
and international coalitions which supported their work
• They entrenched themselves in the local Deaf and hearing communities
to obtain buy-in
• They identified Deaf Fijian leaders to groom, train and develop
• They built on the “Deaf-Same” effect

Deaf-Same at Play in Fiji
• Whenever informed of a sighting of an unschooled Deaf child, Alade
and Adedeji would arrange a recruitment visit
• They recruited from surrounding Fijian islands like Kadavu, Savusavu
and Rabbi as well as Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian island
nations like Vanuatu, Nauru and Tuvalu
• Sometimes visits involved large entourages of staff and Deaf pupils
• Sometimes an entire village would meet the visitors, curious to see the
Deaf teachers and students
• Through direct contact with Deaf Fijians and identification with their
needs, critical “Deaf-Same” affinity developed

Deaf-Same
• Andrew Foster established a model for Deaf-centric development work
during 30 years in sub-Saharan Africa
• Adedeji and Alade replicated that model during 5 years in Fiji
• Deaf verisimilitude represented the manifestation of a shared affinity or
kinship arising from a common deafness
• Deaf verisimilitude transcended ethnic, cultural and religious differences

My Conclusion
• A Deaf-Same component is usually, but not always, naturally intrinsic to
Deafcentric projects
• Deafcentric projects are projects conceptualized by Deaf people for
Deaf people
• The importance of such projects lies in their inherent transcending of
contingent differences between and among Deaf people

The End?
• Adedeji and Alade have now moved on to new endeavors in England
• Adedeji and Alade continue to contribute to the ongoing work through
their not-for-profit, Christian Mission to the Deaf in the Pacific
• Gospel School for the Deaf pupils are graduating and transitioning to
the mainstream Gospel High School
• Some are transitioning from Gospel High School into tertiary programs

GSD in the Early 21st
Century
Matthew Adedeji (far right) on a
recent visit to Fiji from England,
takes time out for a photo op with
some students of GSD.
July 2015

Some Fijian Stories
Leniker Thomas
From Vanuatu
Started school at Gospel School for
the Deaf at age 11
BA, Economics and Politics, Waikato
University, New Zealand, 2014
Photo: Leniker Thomas

Some Fijian Stories
Asinate Kolikata
Entered GSD at 13
Attended college in Hong Kong on a
Hong Kong government scholarship
On a 5-year contract with the
Chinese University of Hong Kong to
study and analyze sign languages
Assistant Project Support staff, Fiji
Deaf Association Secretariat
Photo: Asinate Kolikata

Some Fijian Stories
Krishneer Sen
Attended Gallaudet University as a
World Deaf Leaders (WDL)
Scholarship fund scholar.
BS, Information
Technology, Gallaudet University,
2014
Graduate student, University College
London, UK

Acknowledgments
• Agboola, I. 2014. “Andrew Foster: The Man, the Vision, and the Thirty-Year Uphill Climb”. Deaf
Studies Digital Journal. Accessed April 4, 2015
http://dsdj.gallaudet.edu/assets/section/section2/entry177/DSDJ_entry177.pdf
• Amissah, K., Boateng S., Kulego J., and Nortey, J. 2014 Video Interview of Seth Tetteh-Ocloo and
Elizabeth Tetteh-Ocloo
• Musa, L. 2009. Video Interview of Ezekiel Sambo
• Nicholas, D.F. n.d. “Andrew Foster; The Deaf Will Hear the Words of the Book.” Accessed April 4,
2015. http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/Andrew-foster-deaf-will-hear-words-book
• Ojile, E.O. 1994. “Education of the Deaf in Nigeria”. In The Deaf Way: Perspectives from the International
Conference on Deaf Culture, edited by C.J. Erting, R.C. Johnson, D.L. Smith, and B.D. Snyder.
Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press
• Oteng, F.S. 1988. Give Them a Name. Ashanti, Ghana: Ashanti Regional Association of the Deaf
• Tetteh-Ocloo, S.L. 1965. “Training and Certification of Teachers of the Deaf.” In Proceedings of the
First Conference on the Education of the Deaf in Africa, edited by Andrew Foster. Ibadan: Toyobo Press
•

THANK YOU

FROM NIGERIA TO FIJI – ANDREW FOSTER TOUCHES

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