Nkowankowa's Godfrey to take on SA Disabled Golf Open
1. By Joy Mojela
Published 23 October 2015 Bulletin Newspaper (edited)
Nkowankowa’s Godfrey to take on SA Disabled Golf
Open
Baloyi at the Orangedene Golf Course
Nkowankowa’s deaf community could not be more proud to see Godfrey Baloyi, 26, doing
well nationally in golf. The 26-year-old will be participating in Nedbank’s SA Disabled Golf
2015 Open in Cape Town in December.
His parents, Mr and Mrs Baloyi, say their son’s performance in golf tournaments never
disappoints. He has been participating in various tournaments across the country ever since he
was young. “We’ve even lost count of how many medals he’s brought back from these
tournaments,” they recently told Bulletin.
At the age of one, Baloyi caught meningitis and subsequently lost his hearing. “It was so bad.
He was in hospital for a long time. You don’t survive meningitis and maintain your hearing,”
explained his mother.
The 26-year-old, whose first language is Sign Language, attended Yingisani Special Education
School in Nkowankowa for primary school. Towards the end of primary school, he was
awarded a scholarship to go and study at Filadelfia Secondary School (a school for the disabled)
2. By Joy Mojela
Published 23 October 2015 Bulletin Newspaper (edited)
in Soshanguve. “The scholarship was so wonderful, it completely paid for his tuition and
accommodation throughout his high school years,” his parents noted.
While at Filadelfia, Baloyi was introduced to golf. “Since then, I’ve never looked back,” he
told Bulletin. After completing high school, he remained in Soshanguve to coach young people
in the sports.
Baloyi says he only recently came back to Nkowankowa in the hope to start his own golf club
to train and encourage young people, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, in the sports.
“My challenge is mainly in acquiring funding to start my club,” he explained.
At the moment, he is a member of the First Swing Program (FSP) and continues to participate
in golf tournaments and events across the country. He trains regularly at the Orangedene Golf
Course.
Apart from golf, Baloyi says he is an avid drawer.
Did You Know:
Yingisani School for Special Education is the only school for the deaf in the Mopani
area. It is a primary boarding school and is based in Nkowankowa.
Bulletin recently spoke to the school’s principal, Mr Joseph Nkuna, to understand how the
deaf community is integrated in society, and whether there is enough awareness about the
community amongst us.
According to Nkuna, awareness of the deaf community in society is pretty minimal.
The school has recently taken upon itself the responsibility to enlighten the public of
its presence. Last year it staged a march in Nkowankowa to let society, and especially
people with deaf children, know that it exists.
The closest secondary school available to deaf pupils in our area is Setotolwane
LSEN School in Polokwane. Some deaf pupils who are lucky to get scholarships, or
whose parents can afford, go to Filadelfia in Soshunguve.
Some deaf people can read lips. However, according to Nkuna, serious training is
needed for such ability. “It should be easier for hearing people to learn to sign than
for deaf people to read lips,” he said.
3. By Joy Mojela
Published 23 October 2015 Bulletin Newspaper (edited)
In most cases, boarding schools for the deaf allow deaf pupils to be in a community
of deaf people. “The schools become quite significant in the pupils’ lives as often
pupils, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, come from communities and
families in which no one can sign,” said Nkuna.
Deaf people often face challenges with both higher education and finding
employment. According to Nkuna, Sign Language is very different from spoken
languages. Education curricula are created for hearing people and often deaf people,
whose primary language is Sign Language, find it hard to adapt to the hectic language
of higher education. Nkuna did, however, note that there are efforts by the
Department of Basic Education to create school curricula for Sign Language
speakers.
Deaf people also have a hard time finding job placements because of communication
barriers.
According to Nkuna, the one area that highly needs professional deaf people is at
schools for the deaf. “In this way, at least deaf pupils can best relate to a deaf teacher.
However, the Department of Education does have a programme to adequately train
teachers to teach in deaf school,” he explained.
Sign Language is not a universal language. Just as with spoken languages, Sign
Language may differ according to region or country.
According to Mr and Mrs Baloyi, there can be an inherent problem with hearing
people learning sign language, as in our country, material to teach Sign Language to
hearing people seems largely only available in English. Consequently, English often
becomes the only language first language Sign Language speakers learn.
