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SASL Star: Peet Jacobs

22 September 2021 | Story Michelle Nöthling | Photo Supplied

Peet Jacobs is no stranger to the Deaf community in and around the UFS and Bloemfontein. He has been working at the University of the Free State (UFS) for the past six years, and he is still amazed at the amount of support our institution provides to Deaf students in particular, and to South African Sign Language (SASL) in general. “They provide excellent interpreting services,” Peet says, “not only in face-to-face classes, but also on different online platforms, as well as interpreting pre-recorded lectures and videos.” And as a SASL interpreter, Peet is an integral part of this service.

But signing is not merely a day job for Peet. He carries his skill into the community in his spare time, where he assists as an interpreter at hospitals, doctors’ rooms, and psychiatrists’ offices – to name but a few. What gives Peet the deepest satisfaction, however, is when he can combine his love of Sign Language with his love of the Bible and his God. It was actually Peet’s devotion to his religion that inspired him to learn Sign Language in order to enable him to carry the Word of God into the Deaf community. Peet now also presents Bible courses in SASL and assists a non-profit organisation to produce SASL Bible-based publications, which are translated and recorded in video format.

Peet aspires to become an authority on SASL subject-specific vocabulary related to subject in higher education. “Sign Language is a language in its own right,” Peet points out. “The uniqueness of Deaf culture and the variety of dialects within SASL give the language diversity and colour.” Peet goes on to emphasise how important it is that SASL is recognised as an official language in our country. “This recognition will give dignity to a group of people who have been marginalised in South Africa. This will also pave the way to providing more inclusivity and service to the Deaf community.”

Until then, Peet will continue to serve the best way he knows how: through signing.

News Archive

UFS Leads ASGISA Training

2006-07-17

The University of the Free State (UFS) has been appointed as training service provider for the national programme for the creation of small enterprises and jobs in the second economy. This major national programme has a target of creating one million jobs for poor people in rural and peri-urban areas, which forms part of the government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGI-SA). The main method of training will be through the formation of self-help groups and cooperatives with access to business support and micro finance.

Prof Frans Swanepoel, Director of the UFS Research Development Directorate, acts as advisor to the national programme leader, Ms Vuyo Mahlati. Dr Aldo Stroebel, senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate, has been appointed as programme co-ordinator, based at the UFS. Prof Basie Wessels, Director of the Mangaung-University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP), has been appointed as the training co-ordinator and Ms Sazini Ndlovu as programme assistant based at the Independent Development Trust (IDT) in Pretoria.

Dr Stroebel has co-ordinated the development of a training programme, while Prof Wessels presented the “training-of-trainers” course at the MUCPP last month. This course was attended by trainers and trainer-assistants, identified and selected by the local economic development groups in each of the nine provinces, as well as trainers from Hand-in-Hand (HiH), an Indian non-governmental organisation acting as counterpart to the UFS in the provision of training.

Pictured here at the training session at the MUCPP were from the left: Prof Frans Swanepoel, Mr Gnanavel Mookkan (HiH), Dr Rendani Ralinala (IDT), Ms Sazini Ndlovu (national programme assistant), Mr Chinnaiah Meenakshisundaram (HiH), Dr Aldo Stroebel, Ms Vuyo Mahlati (national programme leader) and Prof Basie Wessels.

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