Social inclusion, religion and citizenship

The work with deaf people in Christian churches in Belo Horizonte has been outstanding for several years. The various services offered in the churches broaden the possibilities for deaf people and favour their empowerment. The institutions carry out work that goes beyond spiritual accompaniment, promoting the dissemination of deaf culture and the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) and favouring the construction of a deaf identity among their faithful. Social interaction with other deaf people and the planned ministerial and social activities of these institutions promote social inclusion. The notion of citizenship is built up as the faithful come to know their rights within these churches and begin to exercise them. They also begin to live within the deaf community with its particularities, without the need to adhere to the hearing culture, receiving all the support and resources possible to improve their quality of life.