Edgar Triay: Serving deaf and hard of hearing people in Gibraltar (BSL)

I am a graduate from the University of Hertfordshire and I have been working for Gibtelecom Ltd – the largest telecommunications provider in Gibraltar – for over 22 years. At the age of 33 I was a victim of noise induced hearing damage after attending a pop music concert and since then have had chronic tinnitus. Now, at the age of 48 I have also developed hearing loss in my left ear and wear a hearing aid.

Outside of work I have dedicated my time and effort to raising awareness of hearing issues, including becoming a founding member of the Gibraltar Hearing Issues and Tinnitus Association (GHITA.)

We are a small fully volunteer driven organisation financed by private donations and fundraising initiatives. Since 2008 GHITA have provided guidance and support to the community and HM Government of Gibraltar, plus act as a pressure group. I have been its chairperson for most of its years.

GHITA has been an innovator bringing access to British Sign Language in Gibraltar. The first BSL Level 1 course we organised my wife and I attended and successfully attained the BSL Level 1 qualification. In total GHITA has been responsible for training approximately 80 people in BSL including four local Deaf BSL users from 2013-2022.

The Gibraltar Award was established in 1957, for residents of Gibraltar. The medal, known as the Badge of Honour, is of gold gilt and bears, on the obverse, the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, and on the reverse, the Coat of Arms and Motto of Gibraltar. The ribbon is of yellow watered silk and recipients have the right within Gibraltar to use the post-nominal letters “G.A.”

In order to be considered for the award, the Governor requests nominations from the general public and the Gibraltar Award Board selects the candidates.

When I was made aware that I had been nominated I felt over the moon and very honoured to having been considered and thus I was thrilled to be given this award. In my opinion this award has vindicated the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar Award is given in recognition to those who have rendered loyal and valuable public service worthy of special recognition, or those who have, by their loyalty and meritorious conduct, been of exceptional benefit to the people of Gibraltar. The award was granted to me for services to persons with hearing disabilities in Gibraltar.

I am really proud that my and GHITAs work to make inroads to protect the rights and improve the lives of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has been recognised as important and valuable.

I have often said that Gibraltar will not be truly inclusive until support structures are in place to enable local Deaf individuals to participate in public events and public life, for example by providing access to in person BSL Interpreters, access to BSL education and access to hearing assistive equipment.

Unfortunately, Gibraltar has been victim to decades of audism and stigma. We still have a long journey to be in parity with the UK in this respect. Gibraltar is not alone in this.  My understanding is that this is also the case in all British Overseas Territories (BOTs.)

Perhaps the UK Government via the Foreign Office should be more involved in order to make available funding and expertise (resources) for these BOTS to catch up and become as inclusive as the UK because after all we are all British Citizens.

Going forwards, my advice to young deaf people is that they should believe in themselves and not let anyone put them down. No matter how many laws are established or how much support is in place, having deafness in a hearing world may not make it easy to excel but it is definitely not impossible. Resilience is key.

To find out more about GHITA and their work over the years, please see:

www.ghita.gi

https://www.instagram.com/gibraltarhearing/?hl=en