Voices from El-Sayed

Shablul Bamidbar

In the picturesque Israeli Negev desert lays the Bedouin Village of El-Sayed. It has the largest percentage of deaf people in the world yet, no hearing aids can be seen because in El-Sayed deafness is not a handicap. The tranquility of the village is interrupted by Salim El-Sayed's decision to change his deaf son's fate using the Cochlear Implant Operation. This bionic implanted chip, that can make deaf people hear, is slowly reaching more secluded areas, even to El-Sayed which has neither paved roads nor electricity. Salim's decision is evoking great conflict in the village threatening the tradition of coexistence between deaf and hearing.