Patrick Speaks | Unreported World | Channel 4

Patrich Otema is 15 years old

he was born deaf
but in this remote region

of Northern Uganda, there are no school for deaf children

in his whole life, Patrick has never had a conversation

Hello. you good?

his father, Charles, looks after him

they are only able to communicate through very basic gestures

we've been sitting here and talking about Patrick in front of him

and while he's been watching us
he doesn't understand what we're saying

it feels almost rude
but this is what Patrick's life is like all the time

I'm here with someone who wants to change all that

Raymond Okkelo is deaf himself
and a sign language teacher

do you think he could learn sign language?

this is pretty much Patrick's existence

his father gestures him what he wants him to do

and when he's finished, he goes back to his hut

to spend the rest of the day on his own

Patrick's fate is not unusual

the majority of deaf people in Sub-saharan Africa

have never been taught sign language

unable to communicate with others,
they're trapped in their own minds.

Raymond became deaf as a child after about of malaria

six months ago, he traveled to the capital for intensive training in sign language

now he returned to his village
to do something unprecedented

he's going to teach the first sign language course ever set up here

Raymond, are you nervous?

it's 2 o'clock, the first deaf students start turning up

and the class begins

the course has already started,
but Patrick hasn't turned up yet

and I'm worried his father couldn't convince him to leave home

a few minutes later, Patrick arrives

Patrick's transformation is amazing

it's almost impossible to believe it's the same boy we met yesterday

new deaf students keep arriving

many have walked miles to be here

there's a 9-year-old boy
and an 80-year-old woman

before the end of the class,
each new student goes to the front

the class votes on a new name for them

this is now Patrick's sign name

and he will use it for the rest of his life

he has just been baptized into a whole new world