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A queen with a difference - Miss Deaf International has lofty goals - Entertainment - Jamaica Gleaner - Sunday | July 24, 2011
Being deaf does not mean you cannot be a beauty queen. Even more profound is the fact that being deaf does not prevent you from being an international ambassador for your country.
Move over Cindy Breakspeare, Lisa Hanna, and Yendi Phillipps, and make way for Cassandra Whyte.
Recently crowned Miss Deaf International 2011 at the second staging of the pageant, Whyte may not be in the spotlight in the same way that other international titleholders are, but her reign as Miss Deaf International has made a big noise for the deaf community.
Whyte has humble beginnings in Central Village, Spanish Town, and her childhood was no different from that of many who are victims of the ignorance of society.
However, at 23 years old, she has not allowed such ignorance to shape her as an individual. She describes herself as beautiful inside and out, and quite friendly.
Jamaicans might not like to hear it, or even hate to admit it, but we all have, more or less, treated an individual with a disability unfairly. Whether it is by being impatient with the blind or intolerant of the crippled, and sometimes it is as simple as ridiculing the dyslexic.
being left out
In Whyte's case, it is being left out of conversations.
"I feel left out when they're having a conversation at any meeting or at any business place. All business places should have one or two interpreters for better conversations between the deaf and hearing people," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
Another example is when she watches the news without captions. Whenever she ask what is happening, persons will tell her to wait, and afterwards they will give her a synopsis.
"When hearing people in my community, workplace and outside talk to me, they don't look at me directly. They talk to someone else and then that person tells me what they said and, seriously, I don't like it. All I want is Jamaica to help the deaf community to live happily and comfortably," she explained.
With that said, it is no surprise that Whyte would be a firm supporter if the education ministry decides to make sign language compulsory in all schools.
"Of course I would support sign language in schools, and sign language is our first language, then English second," she explained.
A former student of the Danny Williams School for the Deaf and the Lister Mair Gilby High School for the Deaf, Whyte won the first Miss Deaf Jamaica, which was established in order for Jamaica to compete in the international pageant.
"My experience in Orlando was so great and the contestants were so nice and friendly," Whyte said.
Whyte is a deaf culture facilitator at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, and a member of the Deaf Community Club and leader of the women's group there.
"My plan for the future as the reigning Miss Deaf International, is to travel around the world and empower the youths. My future plan is to go to college and study accounting," she said.
Being deaf does not mean you cannot be a beauty queen. Even more profound is the fact that being deaf does not prevent you from being an international ambassador for your country.
Move over Cindy Breakspeare, Lisa Hanna, and Yendi Phillipps, and make way for Cassandra Whyte.
Recently crowned Miss Deaf International 2011 at the second staging of the pageant, Whyte may not be in the spotlight in the same way that other international titleholders are, but her reign as Miss Deaf International has made a big noise for the deaf community.
Whyte has humble beginnings in Central Village, Spanish Town, and her childhood was no different from that of many who are victims of the ignorance of society.
However, at 23 years old, she has not allowed such ignorance to shape her as an individual. She describes herself as beautiful inside and out, and quite friendly.
Jamaicans might not like to hear it, or even hate to admit it, but we all have, more or less, treated an individual with a disability unfairly. Whether it is by being impatient with the blind or intolerant of the crippled, and sometimes it is as simple as ridiculing the dyslexic.
being left out
In Whyte's case, it is being left out of conversations.
"I feel left out when they're having a conversation at any meeting or at any business place. All business places should have one or two interpreters for better conversations between the deaf and hearing people," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
Another example is when she watches the news without captions. Whenever she ask what is happening, persons will tell her to wait, and afterwards they will give her a synopsis.
"When hearing people in my community, workplace and outside talk to me, they don't look at me directly. They talk to someone else and then that person tells me what they said and, seriously, I don't like it. All I want is Jamaica to help the deaf community to live happily and comfortably," she explained.
With that said, it is no surprise that Whyte would be a firm supporter if the education ministry decides to make sign language compulsory in all schools.
"Of course I would support sign language in schools, and sign language is our first language, then English second," she explained.
A former student of the Danny Williams School for the Deaf and the Lister Mair Gilby High School for the Deaf, Whyte won the first Miss Deaf Jamaica, which was established in order for Jamaica to compete in the international pageant.
"My experience in Orlando was so great and the contestants were so nice and friendly," Whyte said.
Whyte is a deaf culture facilitator at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, and a member of the Deaf Community Club and leader of the women's group there.
"My plan for the future as the reigning Miss Deaf International, is to travel around the world and empower the youths. My future plan is to go to college and study accounting," she said.