Overcome is the best definition word Jose Luis Garcia Guinard (Palma, 1967). And life was not easy for him.When he was one and a half years old, he developed bronchitis due to medication he was taking to treat it severe bilateral deafness This does not allow you to use headphones. José Luis has been deaf since then, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking on huge challenges and adventurous travels as he tries to make people see and overcome the communication barriers that deaf people suffer.
As a child, he was more interested in football, but his brother Juan Antonio, a great admirer of cyclist Perico Delgado, passed on his passion for cycling to him.So Jose Luis started riding bikes until he became First Mallorcan to compete in Deaflympics the year 1995.
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In 1999, he gave up a career as an elite athlete to take up cycling and has been riding ever since. Traveled over 30,000 kilometers around the world.Since 2003 it has been “Road of Silence”is a project he founded to educate deaf people about reality and encourage them to be brave and not be limited by social barriers. In this way, he visited some destinations such as Chile, Spain, Madagascar, Philippines, Morocco and India through lectures and solidarity stops. During his travels, most people tried to understand him, even though he said, “Some people got angry when they saw me gesturing but didn’t speak to them and didn’t understand me.
. You must try to be patient, kind and make yourself understood through any channel: gestures, gestures, imitations…he Travel to India This changed his life. Through donations, in partnership with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, he raised enough funds to donate more than fifty bicycles so that socially excluded children could attend school.
Routes through Andalusia
He had recently returned from his latest adventure. From September 1st to October 15th, he rode 2,500 kilometers, passing through Huelva, Cádiz, Malaga, Granada, Almeria, Jaén, Córdoba and Seville, together with Ricardo Pérez ‘Ritxar’, another deaf adventurer. They gave speeches at the regional association of the Andalusian Union of the Deaf (UNASORD) in each city. «There are many deaf people who are limited by their deafness.I have experienced it toobut by telling them about my experiences, they see that deaf people can break the stigma and have the ability to do the same things as hearing people.
“Through the talks, the aim is to arouse conscience and break down bit by bit the communication barriers we encounter.” He assured that there is still much to do, but above all, it is necessary Sign language awareness and greater impact.