Neema Crafts

Meet Josephat

Josephat works in our paper making department. He was born profoundly deaf and with spina bifida. He grew up living with his extended family as both his parents had both passed away when he was a child. He felt like he was a burden on them as he believed he had no hope of ever earning a wage to support himself. He felt trapped by his situation. When he started work at Neema Crafts however everything changed for him. He started earning a good wage and was able to support himself independently for the first time.

Deaf people give each other shorthand signs instead of spelling out their names each time. His sign name had been ‘hunchback’ because of the curvature of his spine. After a few months at Neema however, the other deaf trainees changed his sign to ‘he is able’, as they recognised how skilled he had become. He is very proud of his new name and says he really enjoys his job, especially teaching new workers how to make paper.