SANDAKAN: It was a joyous occasion for Nur Hanna Aliyah Wong who just graduated from pre-school yesterday.
Being the only pre-school graduate at her school, Hanna performed a play all by herself, guided by her teacher Wong Yoke Fah.
Yoke Fah would make gestures to act out a story about a monster and three brothers that was read out loud while Hanna would mimic her teacher with a smile. When the play wrapped up, the parents and students applauded but she could not hear any of them. Hanna is deaf.
But the six-year-old was not born deaf. At eight months old Hanna was involved in a car accident that caused her loss of hearing. The fourth out of her five siblings suffered a five-day coma but her awakening was greeted with silence.
Today, Hanna knows how to write and communicate through sign language.
“I’m really happy for Hanna. I think it’s great that we have a platform like SSSD (Sandakan Sabah Society for the Deaf) to foster deaf children. I’m really grateful that Hanna has learned a lot from this school. She knows how to write and she’s able to communicate with her peers, even normal ones,” said Karen Juratil Hasim, Hanna’s mother.
Magdalena Kinsuwan, the mother of eight-year-old SSSD student Wilma Donna, and former student Morrester, 18, expressed gratitude to the society for helping her children learn. “Morrester is now in Papar studying Electric. Actually, I don’t like the course because it’s dangerous! But that’s where his skill is,” said Magdalena.
Marphalin said she used to worry for her daughter, Richmah, 22. She said Richmah used to keep to herself in her room and didn’t socialise with anyone. However, SSSD has given her hope.
“Since she was enrolled here, she’s able to socialise and even when we have guests, she’d prepare drinks and wouldn’t shy away. She’d also help out with house work. She can now write and count and she understands a little English.
“I’m proud of her. I no longer worry that she has no future. Now I believe she has a future,” said Marphalin.
Azim Syahmi Abdullah, 10, is the only child in SSSD who has 100 per cent hearing. Having undergone the cocklear implant five years ago, Azim can hear, but learning has been difficult because of his mild autism.
His mother, Suriati Salasan had sent him to a special school for children with Down Syndrome in Agabe but after a year, he was moved to SSSD.
“After a year there, he showed no obvious progress, maybe because of the environment. So we enrolled him here.
“This really isn’t the best place for him since Sabah doesn’t have a specialised centre for cocklear implant patients. I didn’t have a choice. But I’m really surprised that he has made progress intellectually. He’s able to perform tasks independently and he can even sign,” said Suriati.
Teacher Wong Yoke Fah said SSSD’s education is not only centred in writing, sign or mathematics but also the ability to be independent.
Yoke Fah has been teaching in SSSD for nine years. She is aided by her assistant Ermawati Esah who has been teaching in SSSD for three years.
Nestled in the terraces of Taman Pertama, mile 5, here, SSSD is the only home for the hearing impaired in Sandakan to learn and grow. For the past 23 years, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) has been listening to the deaf speak.
SSSD began with a RM500 a month room in 1989 with one teacher and a student but after four successful charity projects, they found a home in Taman Pertama in 1998. Today, SSSD has nine students.
“The success of this school is due to the hard work of our committee members and teachers and also the people of Sandakan who are very sincere in helping us out one way or another,” said SSSD chairperson Winnie Chong.
Winnie said the NGO is funded heavily from public donations. She added that the government grant of around RM20,000 a year is only enough to support their teachers. “It’s not enough to cover all our expenses.
“But every month, the contributions come from the good wishes of Sandakan. We are extremely grateful to our donors,” she said.