Growing up, my family loved the nonchalant atmosphere of a restaurant off Jalan Sultan Ismail. The foreground of a buzzing city. We frequented there often to get dinners or suppers past 11 o'clock. As much as it remains a vivid memory of my childhood, it was also the initial spark that drove my interest to learn Sign Language.

The man who worked at the parking lot of the restaurant, couldn't possibly be anywhere above 40 of age. He had a petite form, a sincere face, and a delightful smile. Always ready to greet the guests to the restaurant cheerfully. As a young child, I thought he was weird. He never spoke but only produced certain sounds while he tried to talk with his hands. My mother would respond similarly with her hands. If there anything was said at all, to me then, it was incomprehensible. She then explained to me that he was "deaf". The word had never been part of my vocabulary but I was able to understand what it meant. 

It meant he couldn't speak or hear. He could only convey what we wanted through his gestures and expressions. "What'd he say?", I'd asked. My mother could only shrug and only assume what the man tried to say. In the bottom of my tiny stomach, I felt a weight of sympathy drop for him. If only I could understand. If only I could hear truly what he tries to say.

After high school, I signed up for what I've always wanted to do - learning Sign Language. That's how I ended up meeting other friends who shared a similar passion in ensuring a more inclusive society. My learning journey in YMCA KL helped me understand the Deaf Community better - their journies, challenges, and their specialties. With the understanding that I've earned and the new visual language, I've learned, I ought to continue to help the Deaf Community.

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If they speak, will we hear them? Hi, there friends! It's Dina here. As a volunteer of See The Voices, a volunteering program by AIESEC in Taylor's University, I'm hoping to raise funds to help the Malaysian Deaf Community for them to continue to be empowered and integrated into society. This initiative is also in collaboration with the Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA). For the deaf community, their voices have gone unheard for far too long, your kindness, matters.