Spreading the Word

Speeches Shim

Meet Islam, a photographer and sign language interpreter at Jerash Municipality. Through his work, he's making sure more people in his city have access to the information they need.

Video Transcript 
Islam: My name is Islam Al-Kayed, I’m 31 years old. My father was a great supporter of me as a child. He was a pillar of support for me. He enrolled me in Philadelphia University where I took a six-month course. Today, I work at Jerash Municipality. My family and relatives support me by advising me to take care with my work at Jerash Municipality, showing up to work on time and making good progress, because it matters. Text: In September 2019, Islam and his supervisor participated in a USAID training on inclusion for municipal staff. Islam: I’d been working as a photographer at the municipality for a long time, then I started receiving inquiries from people who are deaf wanting news and information. So, I suggested to my boss that we cooperate together to respond to the many inquiries we were getting from the deaf community. We agreed that it would be best if I handled this, and that it would be great if the news was delivered in sign language. My boss passed this suggestion to the mayor, and the mayor agreed to the idea. I then started to post news in sign language. I post updates on Facebook about the Jerash Festival during the month of June in sign language for the people who are deaf who want to know more about the festival. I post the updates for them in sign language on Facebook. This way they’re able to come all the way from Amman and Irbid, and we’re able to welcome them at the festival. The response was amazing. I’ve had people telling me: “Islam, your signing is just perfect! We now get the updates so we know when to use a different road, for example.” So, this has made them happier.