Her marble green eyes soak up every word on one’s lips and she envelopes the meaning of her words through her warm hands, heart and mouth.
Vicky du Preez is a 44-year-old woman who was born and lives in Wellington with her husband, Rossouw, and son.
She’s an avid mountaineer whose climbering claws are now gearing-up to summit Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of 15 hikers in the Climb4TheDeaf challenge planned for August.
Vicky and her fellow team members are working to garner sponsorship for this challenge as hosted by the ‘Be the BEST version of YOURSELF Foundation’.
“We have decided to put our lives on the line by climbing one of the highest and most dangerous mountain peaks in the world to raise awareness and to alleviate the problems our deaf community faces daily,” she expressed with the help of her son, Anrè who acts as interpretor.
The climb will be aiming to raise funds for Miss, Mr and Mrs Deaf South Africa (MDSA) and the Foundation of Children with Hearing Loss in Southern Africa which among others:
- Provide cochlear implants for children born deaf funding the cost of the implants, related therapy and lifelong support costs.
- Supply hearing aids for qualifying children.
The total cost to sponsor one climber for this summit is estimated at R97 803, of which R20 000 will go toward the benefit of cochlear implants.
Vicky is enrolled to participate in the Mrs Deaf SA 2022 pageant, but humbly put her hand on her chest saying: “I’m no pageant queen, I am only doing this to give the gift of hearing to children born deaf.”
She simply rolled her eyes shut, head shaking, at the idea of strutting down a runway. But she is a very beautiful and petit woman with a fierce physique which shows the miles she has hiked and climbed all over South Africa.
“I discovered my love for mountaineering at an early age, gained quite a few experiences from Qwa-Qwa Sentinal bordering Lesotho / Free State and KwaZulu Natal, one of the most beautiful places with freezing temperatures and thick snow and lots of wet terrain.
“At Horschead Hiking Trail at Mount Rochelle temperatures dropped to 3 °C and the snow was knee-deep. It was the most beautiful view with an experience of all the snow around me. The trail taught me to keep walking to keep warm. I realise why Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro are so popular among the climbers to reach their dreams.”
When people ask her: “What’s the use of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro?”, her immediate answer is: “It is of no use. There’s not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live.”
She could not emphasise enough that deaf people are normal.
“Some people are surprised that I am able to drive a car and some even used to doubt the fact that I’m a mother who was perfectly able to raise my son. The only difference is, I cannot hear a thing.”
Vicky says the only shortfall she experienced her entire life was being disenfranchised in that South Africa is decades behind in accommodating the deaf.
“Thanks to advanced technology and treatment, nearly all kids who are born deaf have the chance, with the right treatment and therapy, to join commercial schools and gain access to the same opportunities.”
Unfortunately, it did little to change her fate as an adult deaf person.
She has been through two cochlear implant procedures that was unsuccessful due to the fact that her nervous system, which involves her hearing capacity, had disintegrated for the implants to engage with the signals in her brain.
“I wish I could hear . . .,” Vicky said as the tears breached and rolled down her cheek. “That is why I have to do this for children who still have the capacity to hear the sounds of the world and be normal.”
The fact remains, deaf people have no impediment to living a normal life, but hearing people lack the skills to understand them.
In the words of the late Khetiwe Madi: “What if all of you could not hear and I am the only one who can hear, who is the one with the disability?
For more information about sponsoring Vicky, send email to vickydupreez7711@gmail.com or nolan@straighttalkwithnolan.com
