The Deaf Empowerment Foundation was set up in December 2004 by a group of academics working in the Sign Language Typology Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The statutes of the Foundation define the following MISSION STATEMENT:
The overall aim of the Deaf Empowerment Foundation is to support tertiary education for deaf people and related academic research worldwide, with particular focus on developing countries, especially in subjects that are vital to the positive development of deaf communities, such as education (special education, distance education., etc), linguistics (sign language linguistics, applied linguistics, etc), and other subjects from the humanities and social studies (sociology, politics, psychology, administration, etc).
This mission statement was born out of a set of basic beliefs:
At the Deaf Empowerment Foundation, we believe that deaf people anywhere in the world, but particularly in developing countries, have the same range of talents, potentials and abilities as any other person, but that they often lack adequate opportunities for developing these talents. In particular, the countries where we find some of the largest deaf communities in the world and therefore also some of the largest pools of talented deaf people are also the ones where the avenues towards higher education for deaf people are most limited. When educational systems are biased towards oral approaches, when students do not communicate effectively with their teachers, when the standards of formal education are low, when there are no interpreting services for deaf people and no programs are taught through sign language, this leaves deaf people marginalized in their education.
At the Deaf Empowerment Foundation, we believe that tertiary-level education for deaf people will play a crucial role in improving this situation. We believe that the time has come for deaf professionals themselves to take the lead in defining the best approaches to deaf education. The use of sign languages in educational settings and the respect for deaf cultures wherever they manifest themselves is integral to our approach. We take seriously the slogan that “deaf people can do anything but hear”. Our aim is to create conditions under which deaf people can maximally realize their potentials right up to the highest degrees of academic qualification and at internationally competitive levels. We also believe that qualified deaf academics will be instrumental in substantially improving the educational situation for all deaf people.
We hold these beliefs not only in theory, but also in practice. We hold these beliefs because this is what we have seen and experienced many times over in the places where we ourselves have worked and lived.
Our vision
Our vision can be stated in one phrase: An international deaf university for the developing countries. A campus university where academic courses are taught through a sign language and where deaf students can study under adequate conditions at an internationally competitive level right up to the highest university degrees. And, as a result of this, a deaf elite in developing countries that can speak with authority on the central issues concerning their own deaf communities.
Our long-terms efforts are directed towards setting up this International Deaf University in India. Meanwhile, we pursue a number of individual steps at the levels of both individual and institutional support. Our statutes specify the following individual aims:
a. Support to deaf individuals in relation to their tertiary education, for example through:
* travel grants to conferences
* scholarships for tertiary study
* support for interpreting facilities
* facilitation of student exchange
* networking among deaf student
* all other activities that support individual deaf students at the tertiary level
b. Support to institutions and programs that are involved in tertiary education for deaf people, for example through:
* consultation, information and advice to institutions
* facilitation of networking among institutions
* organization of and/or support for conferences, workshops and symposia
* financial support for institutions
* all other activities that support institutions and programs involved in tertiary education for deaf people
c. Creation of new avenues of tertiary education for deaf people, for example through:
* support for the creation of research and project groups in existing institutions where these groups pursue the aims specified in the mission statement.
* creation of a research centre that works in the core areas identified in the mission statement.
* creation of an international university serving deaf students in the core areas identified in the mission statement.
