Deaf teacher excels in online video making

When you meet 31-year- old Samwel Buuri Muriithi the first thing you notice is a warm, polished demeanour and ease of manner.

Then an infectious smile and dead silence. He does not respond verbally. The best he can do is respond in sign language.
This is the life he has lived since he was 10 years old. He was in Class Three then, in a regular school.

Despite being deaf Muriithi is now a music video producer with a stream of hits under his belt.

He uploads them under the YouTube name Deaf Media K.

"I now edit videos on my phone, I get reviews on my phone too. It has made my work easier," says Muriithi.
But it has not always been like this. When he woke up one morning, he says, he could not hear properly from his right ear.

What he describes as the fluttering of butterflies obstructed his hearing.

He thought those close to him were whispering. Sadly though, his sense of hearing was failing.

Muriithi later realised that he was developing a hearing problem. Soon his left ear developed similar complications. Then he lost the sense the hearing.
He comes from a humble background and did not notice his talent early.

SOLACE IN MUSIC

"My love for art developed later, after joining a school for the deaf and interacting with various social groups," he says.
When his mother died in 2007, he found solace in music and art.

"They calmed my emotions wherever I was overwhelmed," he says.

His love for drama, poetry, music and art blossomed at Machakos Teachers Training College.

"Drama was my new love," he says. In 2018 a friend asked him to help infuse sign language in a Kiswahili song.

"Since sign language is taught in English, we had to translate the song from Kiswahili to English. It was difficult," he recalls.

When the new version of the song was released, he says, feedback was overwhelming.

"The audience was impressed."

Uploading videos on YouTube was rife then. But, uploading substandard quality videos on the platform was frowned upon.

This necessitated learning how to edit high quality videos.

SIMULATED JOKES

It was a tedious process and he almost gave up. But when he uploaded the debut Kiswahili video on YouTube the feedback was gratifying. This motivated him to continue the pursuit.

Together with a friend he simulated jokes, translated songs and produced short plays. He was entrusted with editing videos and posting them on YouTube. To interpret musicians’ messages he either reads lips or relies on people who can hear.

"Another friend who was conversant with video editing joined the team. His appetite for success kept us on track," he says.

He practised the art studiously until his editing skills improved. Sometimes he browsed the internet to watch tutorials on video editing.

"Before I upload a video I give it to a random friend to review. He critics and flags where I need to make adjustments.

“The reviewer checks the quality of sound, relevance of subtitles and actions. Such reviews help me to fine-tune the final output," he says.

Supporters applaud his work. Then there are critics, mostly from the deaf community, who tell him areas to improve in subsequent uploads.
Last year he was the lead actor in the movie The City Girl.

The "opportunity taught me how persons living with disability can use art to change society," he says.

SIGN LANGUAGE

During production an interpreter was hired to help people with disability understand the director’s commands.

"When shooting we must have the hearing community. We cannot do it alone," he says.

As a director, how do you know that a video is good for the audience? I ask.

"My intention is to educate the hearing community on sign language and give them a reason to watch by incorporating humour," he says.

Muriithi is a teacher by profession. "Teaching does not tickle my fancy. I teach to survive while I act to find fulfilment," he says.

"Interests of the deaf are not fully represented in the mainstream media. This is the gap I envision to fill."