Patrick Otema is 15 years old.

He was born deaf, 
but in this remote region

of northern Uganda, there 
are no schools for deaf children.

In his whole life, 
Patrick's never had a conversation.

Hello, you good?

His father, Charles, looks after him.

They are only able to communicate 
through very basic gestures.

We've been sitting here talking 
about Patrick in front of him,

and while he's been watching us, 
he doesn't understand what we're saying.

It feels almost rude, but this is 
what Patrick's life is like all the time.

I'm here with someone 
who wants to change all that.

Raymond Okkelo is deaf himself 
and a sign language teacher.

Do you think he 
could learn sign language?

This is pretty much Patrick's existence.

His father gestures to him 
what he wants him to do,

and when he's finished, 
he goes back to his hut

to spend the rest of the day on his own.

Patrick's fate is not unusual.

The majority of deaf people 
in Sub-Saharan Africa

have never been taught sign language.

Unable to communicate with others,
they're trapped in their own minds.

Raymond became deaf 
as a child after a bout of malaria.

Six months ago, he traveled to the capital
for intensive training in sign language.

Now he's returned to his village 
to do something unprecedented.

He's going to teach the first 
sign language course ever set up here.

Raymond, are you nervous?

It's 2 o'clock, the first 
deaf students start turning up...

..and class begins.

The course has already started, 
but Patrick hasn't turned up yet.

I'm worried his father 
couldn't convince him to leave home.

A few minutes later, Patrick arrives.

Patrick's transformation is amazing.

It's almost impossible to believe 
it's the same boy we met yesterday.

New deaf students keep arriving.

Many have walked miles to be here.

There's a nine-year-old boy 
and an 80-year-old woman.

Before the end of the class,
each new student goes to the front.

The class votes on 
a new name for them.

This is now Patrick's sign name,

and he will use it 
for the rest of his life.

He has just been baptized 
into a whole new world.