Sign of Love

 Held over the course of two days (5^th and 6^th of April 2017) in SK Pendidikan Khas Kota Samarahan, Kolej Sakura organized a charity project named “Sign of Love”, which involved four main activities; sign language class, mural painting, tree planting, and a sports day with the school students.

On the first day (5^th April), upon arrival at the school, the participants were greeted by some of the teachers of the school, who briefed them about the school and its students, explaining that some of the students were deaf and relied on sign language to communicate and learn. The participants were then given the chance to learn simple sign language, such as the alphabets, numbers, and simple greetings such as good morning, hello, thank you, etc. After a morning meal, the participants are split into three teams; two for mural painting, and one for tree planting. The first day ends at 2.00 p.m., however, a few of the participants stayed at the school for a bit longer to finish the mural paintings.

On the second day (6^th April), all of the teachers and students took part in the sports day alongside with the participants. The day began with a quick warm-up lead by the participants, and then the students and teachers are split into their respective teams which will compete with each other in the sports day. The games were musical chairs, taking sweets from a plate of flour using only their mouths, and water balloon toss. To especially aid the students who were deaf, the teachers and participants did their best to enunciate with sign language and expressive body gestures. They also made sure to encourage the shyer ones to participate, and rewarded all the students with sweets after each game. By the end of the sports day event, it was evident that the students were happy and enjoyed themselves.

Around 12.30 p.m., everyone went to the closing ceremony. The honoured guests are as follows;

• Kolej Sakura’s principal, Ms. Siti Nor Ain Binti Haji Musa,
• Kolej Sakura’s Felo, Dr. Nor Hasmaliana Binti Abdul Manas,
• SK Pendidikan Khas’ Headmaster, Mdm. Rosline Sendai,
• SK Pendidikan Khas’ Senior Assistant in Student Affairs, Mdm. Mariati Ahmad, and
• Director of Sign of Love, Ms. Umi Khafizah Khairunisah Binti Jasirin.

After a short speech from Ms. Siti Nor Ain, followed by Mdm. Rosline’s, with each of them congratulating the participants for a successful charity project, both of them were invited to sign a memorandum to officiate the two-day project. Everyone, including the students and teachers, then gathered for a commemorative group photo. The project came to an end at 2.00 p.m., with the participants saying goodbye to the students and teachers before returning to UNIMAS.

Prepared by,

Imelia Kyra binti Mohamad Iskandar