[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Jaan Pill
Date: 10/21/02
Time: 6:54:45 PM
Remote Name: 209.29.174.163
Moussa and others:
By way of rounding out the discussion, I would like to post some recent e-mail reports from Moussa Dao and Joseph Lukong regarding the highly significant recent radio interviews in Africa in connection with ISAD 5. I also would like to post the valuable comments of Russ Hicks of the USA.
The focused and well-organized work that you are doing, Moussa, Joseph, Othieno and others in Africa, is very much a strong source of inspiration for myself and for others who have been active in volunteer work on behalf of ISA over the years. I want to wish you every success in your ongoing work to establish contacts among people in Africa who stutter. Your work makes such a difference for so many people who have yet to become aware that, “If you stutter, you’re not alone.”
I would also like to add, Moussa, that it is wonderful to know that you have a good command of both French and English and thus can assist in establishing contacts between francophone and anglophone associations of people who stutter, not just in Africa but elsewhere also.
I would also bring attention to these ISAD conferences:
http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/comdis/isad5/papers/lukong.html
http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/comdis/isad5/papers/moussa.html
Here are the above-mentioned e-mail messages, for the record:
Oct. 19, 2002 E-mail message from Moussa Dao <daomoussa@yahoo.fr>
Hello to everyone
I have just came from our national radio where, for our ISAD, I was invited by a journalist for an emission about stuttering and our association. This was a great challenge for me. It was my first time to speak in the radio. In the beginning of this interview, I was quite calmer. And then, when I saw behind our interview room , many journalists who are interested by what I'm telling, I begin to get some fears. I thought that I will be listened by million of people around all Burkina Faso and perhaps in other west African countries because our national radio go over our frontier And I began to stutter. But I thought about the interesting article wrote by Russ Hick ( a Gift of stuttering ) for online conference , and I got courage and go on my speech with less stuttering. I stuttered less and all my friends was very happy and congratulate me. The journalists was impressed by my answer and by knowing many things about stuttering ISA, IFA. Later they told me that there are many fluent persons and sometimes political person who could not speak like I have just did.
This emission will broadcast in all Burkina Faso in October 22. It's the first time , in Burkina Faso that ,news about stuttering ,will be broadcast.
Last week, I was interviewed by three journalists of newspapers. Yesterday when I arrived in my office, a man walked towards me and told me that he have just written my interview in our national newspaper ( SIDWAYA ). He congratulated me , and told me that he has been stuttering since his childhood and is very happy to hear from our association. Later I will send you my interview. Next week , two private journal will also published my interview. I can say that our first step of ISAD is a veritable success.
More over two health magazines got in touch me in order to write papers about stuttering and our association.
My next challenge, is to get fund in order to welcome the president of Association parole Bégaiement ( France) Anne Marie Simon for animate a conference which will be our national stuttering awareness day.
Best regards to you
Moussa
****************
Oct 19, 2002 Message from Joseph Lukong <lujotar@yahoo.com>
Hi Moussa, Bravo for such a good piece of work. I am happy that the press is trying to give us some attention to the work we do in this our part of the world. Yesterday, was also a remarkable day for me as I did a 30 minute interview at one of the radio stations we have here. The said interview was on the air this morning at 9.30 a.m. Cameroon time and I was astonished to listen to it and to hear the 'just few' instances that I stuttered. The most important thing is just passing the message across no matter how we stutter in letting that message out. Happy ISAD to youover there. Joe
***************
Oct. 19, 2002 Message from Russ Hicks RussHicks@mail.com
CONGRATULATIONS MOUSSA!
We are all - I am certain - VERY proud of you and what you've just done for the entire stuttering community. You've have just accomplished what the core of ISAD is all about. You've educated people around the world about stuttering. You not only told people about stuttering, but you SHOWED them as well. BRAVO!
Imagine, if you will, if you had conducted that interview and hadn't stuttered at all. Sure, you would have been able to tell them about stuttering, but your credibility would have been significantly lower because you would have sounded exactly like everyone else. (That's what happened to me that crazy time in Toastmasters when my message fell flat.) But BECAUSE you stuttered, your credibility was MUCH higher than the average fluent person and your message I'm sure came across with dramatic impact! Isn't that amazing how that works?
There is a fine balance between stuttering too little and too much. Of course you don't want to have horribly long, struggling blocks because that really does interfere with communication. But stuttering WELL (easy, open, etc.) can add significantly to your message, especially if you are talking about stuttering and communication. And you will have touched the lives of many people around the world. You truly have used your "Gift of Stuttering."
For any of you who have NOT read Moussa's ISAD-5 paper on "Stuttering in Burkina Faso," I highly recommend it. It's an amazing, fascinating article.
Congratulations again, Moussa! As we say here in Texas, "Ya done good, pardner!"
Best regards,
Russ