Sixty years ago, Reverend William Gilby arrived in Trinidad with the intention of setting up an organisation to help those who were hearing impaired, as he had already done in Jamaica. The English Clergyman requested information on the deaf population from the Right Reverend Arthur Henry Anstey, Bishop of The Anglican Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago 1918-1945 and Archbishop of the West Indies 1943-1945; Captain Daniel, the Director of Education; and several other persons.
With not much financial backing forthcoming from either the Church or the Government because of the war, and with only statistics from a 1931 census, Reverend Gilby and other interested persons persevered, and on July 29, 1942, the Trinidad Association in Aid of the Deaf and Dumb was formed during a meeting at the Royal Victoria Institute. The first patrons of the Association were His Excellency, the Governor, Sir Bede Clifford and his wife. Bishop Anstey became the first president. Other persons of note at the meeting included Henry Hudson-Phillips Esq, who acted as chairman for the first Annual General Meeting in 1943, W Alston, D Mc Bride, who became the first appointed chairman of the Association in 1944, J.B.I. Todd and Audrey Jeffers.
In 1943, a school for deaf children was opened at 52 Edward Street, Port of Spain with three children and a teacher. In 1945, the Association established the school at 19 Cascade Road but it was not until 1954 that the Government began to contribute an annual subvention, which although increased over the years, still leaves the Association dependent on the generosity of the public, its members and fund raising to help and educate the hearing impaired in our society.
In 1962, the Association was incorporated by Act of Parliament and the name changed to the Trinidad and Tobago Association in Aid of the Deaf. Today, now called the Trinidad and Tobago Association For The Hearing Impaired, Dr David Quamina is the current president, May Cherrie vice president, Roderick Pillai (treasurer) and Eulyn Dove (secretary). Membership is open to all at an annual subscription of just twenty dollars.
By 1965, the Association was moving on and started a programme for the hearing impaired in the south, in a house located in the middle of a Marabella cane field, kindly donated by the late Ms Jeffers, who had won the building in a raffle, but never used it. Three teachers from Cascade volunteered to conduct classes once a week on Saturdays. Eventually, the Gopaul family donated the lot of land adjacent to the school and the Association, with some San Fernando businessmen, raised funds to construct a new school which was opened on April 6, 1971 by the late Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams. Hearing Impaired students of both schools are prepared to sit the Common Entrance Examination at age 13, and successful students are placed in secondary schools in their respective districts.
Sometime in 1984, the Association's immediate past chairman, the late Dr Patrick Solomon, suggested a Centre be built to diagnose and treat the hearing impaired, as early as possible. It took seven years for the Diagnostic Research Educational and Therapeutic Centre for the Hearing Impaired (DRETCHI) to come to fruition at 13c Wrightson Road. And on November 21, 1991, the Centre, built from a substantial sum of money from the Dr Eric Williams Memorial Fund along with generous contributions from companies and caring individuals, was opened by President Noor Hassanali.
"Through our intervention programme" says Pillai "we try to teach young children to speak and interact with their hearing counterparts with an aim to integrate these children into normal schools. We have trained staff as well as dedicated professionals who selflessly volunteer to help these children." In the year 2001, 951 persons ranging from children under five years to those over 19 years were tested at DRETCHI. Testing is also done by appointment for adults of all ages. Those needing hearing aids now receive them free of charge through the Government and DRETCHI.
Although the original plans for the Centre catered for three wings, financial constraints in 1991 allowed for only two wings off a common atrium. However, there is now a need to provide for teaching of skills, such as, printing, plumbing, tailoring, dressmaking and the construction of a woodwork shop for the young hearing impaired who must be made employable. To this end, construction of the third wing will start in 2003, the year of the Association's 60th anniversary in service to the hearing impaired.
The Association must raise one third of the estimated TT$1.3 million needed and will solicit Government's assistance and contributions from the business community and individuals. The first and main fund raiser 'NOEL NOEL', which includes entertainment, fashion and delight, takes place at 3.30 p.m. today, Sunday November 17, on the DRETCHI Greens at 13c Wrightson Road.