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.