Speak out… I understand you… We have a common language

‘I've been in Scouting for years, attending and participating in different activities but without much interaction. There are many things that I cannot express and even when I do, others cannot fully understand me,’ said Mohammad Awad, a Sudanese Scout.

‘Now, we – Scouts with hearing disability – have a common language that gathers us and facilitates our communications within the Movement,’ he confirmed that at the launch of the Arabic Scout Sign Language Dictionary. It signifies the start of a new life for him in the Scout Movement and allows him to take part in Scouting with other young people.

The dictionary contains 900 Scouting terms and is also available in an interactive version. Sign language experts, in collaboration with professional Scouts in the Region, have spent more than three years to prepare and test the dictionary, to ensure that it is useful and beneficial to Scouts with hearing disabilities.

The dictionary was launched at an event organised by the Kuwait Boy Scouts Association last month. It was attended by sign language experts and Scouts with hearing disabilities from nine Arab National Scout Organizations. A presentation of the dictionary as well as discussions on the integration of Scouts with disabilities in the Movement and field visits were among the highlights of the event.