Deaf cultures and Sign Languages of the world: Mali (Mali)

Created 10 April 2000, links updated monthly with the help of LinkAlarm.

Mali flag David Bar-TzurMali flag

map of Mali

Flag: World flag database.
Map: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.

For a quick, interesting resource for facts about this and other countries,
try Mystic Planet - The New Age directory of Planet Earth.

Note: A flag next to a link shows what language the website is in. If it is followed by this icon: (video camera: This links to a video), it is a video in that spoken language. A flag followed by Sign Language iconmeans it is in the sign language of that country. globe (international icon)Sign Language iconmeans there is International Gesture.

Bamako Sign Language Deaf culture Deaf education & youth Deaf history and current events Langue des Signes Malienne (Mali Sign Language)
Langue des Signes Malienne (Mali Sign Language) dictionaries Organizations

Bamako Sign Language

Bamako Sign Language: A language of Mali.

Nyst, V., & Baker, A. (2003). The phonology of name signs: A comparison between the Sign Languages of Uganda, Mali, Adamorobe and the Netherlands (pp. 71-80). In A. Baker, Bogaerde, B. van den and O. Crasborn (Eds.), Cross-linguistic perspectives in sign language research. Selected papers from TISLR 2000. Hamburg: Signum.

Deaf culture

Deaf on GoWestAfrica.org.

Deaf education & youth

digitalcapturebyjess. (2008, June 3). Lizzy @ CGI.video camera: This links to a videoLizzy presents her idea for a video project between a deaf institute in Mali and the Texas School for the Deaf at the Clinton Global Initiative 2008 in New Orleans.

École Enfants Déficients Auditifs Bamako. Au Mali, les parents d’enfants sourds ne s’intéressent pas à la communication avec leurs enfants sourds. Ceux-ci souffrent intérieurement. Heureusement pour ces enfants sourds de Bamako, une école a été créée à leur intention. C’est là que l’on découvre leurs talents, leur envie d’apprendre et surtout leur soif de communiquer avec autres.

Miles, M. (2001, May 31). Overcoming Resource Barriers: the challenge of implementing inclusive education in rural areas. I have chosen to focus on resource barriers because they are the most widely used excuses for not promoting inclusive practice, even in the most apparently well-resourced educational settings. My teaching colleagues in the UK claim that they would be capable of so much more, 'if only there were more resources'. A lack of resources is perceived as a barrier to inclusion across cultural, geographical and economic boundaries. It is therefore important to understand what we mean by resources and begin to tackle the problem. Resources can be divided into human resources, material resources (money!), and access to information and knowledge.

Stubbs, S. (1997). Overcoming barriers to inclusion in Douentza, Mali. In January 1997 Save the Children Fund (SCF) UK set up a consultation process with government, donors, NGOs and village communities with the aim of making schooling more accessible to children. Access to schooling is part of a wider set of activities intended to strengthen the resilience of village children to the pressures of poverty. This article shows that inclusive education can be supported in one of the 'poorest' areas of the world and that huge environmental, climatic, economic and material challenges can be overcome.

Deaf history and current events

Miles, M. (2005). Deaf people living and communication in African histories, c. 960s - 1960s. There is strong documentary evidence that deaf or hearing impaired men and women, girls and boys, did occupy social space and took roles across the full spectrum of life throughout Africa in earlier centuries, living lives like everyone else and also having some different experiences. Traces and signs of deaf people appear in many sorts of historical document, such as travellers' accounts, legal and genealogical records, government, institutional and missionary archives, linguistic studies, literature, folklore, religious narrative, mime, dance and drama. Many of their experiences have involved severe economic poverty and adversity, stigmatising attitudes and exclusionary practices; yet this has not been the norm everywhere in Africa, and many deaf people have shown great resilience, perseverance, humour and ingenuity in their dealings and communications with the non-deaf world.

Langue des Signes Malienne (Mali Sign Language)

Langue des Signes Malienne - Projet LaSiMa. La Langue des Signes Malienne (LaSiMa) est la langue des signes locale du Mali, Afrique de l’Ouest. Elle s´est évoluée spontanément dans les centres urbains du Mali, en dehors du contexte éducatif. L’origine de cette langue se trouve dans les ‘grins’ ou lieux des palabres, où les hommes se rencontrent après le travail pour causer et prendre du thé. A présent, les hommes qui maîtrisent bien la LaSiMa sont plus nombreux que les femmes qui la maîtrisent.

LUCL - Langue des Signes Malienne. Malinese Sign Language (LaSiMa) is the local sign language of Mali. It has developed spontaneously in the streets of urban centres in Mali, outside the context of Deaf education. The cradle of LaSiMa seem to be the ‘grins’; tea circles where Deaf men gather after work to chat and relax. Up till today, the LaSiMa sigining community consists predominantly of men.

victorianyst. Projet LaSiMa.Mali flagSign Language iconAu Mali, on utilise American Sign Language (ASL) dans l'education des enfants sourds. En consequence, la Langue des Signes Malienne est en danger. Le Projet LaSiMa veut documenter et decrire cette langue. / In Mali, American Sign Language is used in Deaf education. As a consequence, Malinese Sign Language is endangered. The Projet LaSiMa aims at documenting and describing this language.

Langue des Signes Malienne (Mali Sign Language) dictionaries

Lexique des signes utilisés par les sourds du Mali par Dominique Pinsonneult (CECI Mali).

Organizations

Surdité en Afrique. 11. MALI: association malienne pour la promotion Sociale des sourds et sourds Muets, B.P. 174 Bamako.

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