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Campus Community

Signing and Service at the PCC

What do you get when you combine the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), members of the deaf community, and students from BYU–Hawaii? An experience of a lifetime. Recently, BYU–Hawaii’s ASL (American Sign Language) Club partnered with the PCC to give tours to members of Hands and Voices, a nonprofit organization which helps parents with deaf children. 

BYU–Hawaii’s ASL Club has partnered several times with Hands and Voices to provide services and entertainment for deaf children in the community. The club had been planning and preparing for this specific event for several months, and it was made possible by generous donations from and cooperation of the PCC. The PCC reduced the price of the tickets for any individual associated with Hands and Voices, and the ASL students acted as tour guides for their group. ASL Club guides were trained a few days prior by regular PCC tour guides, so they could effectively share the PCC experience with the Hands and Voices group. “This event was all student driven,” said Lynda Park, ASL Club advisor. “I had very little to do in the planning. I just showed up.”

Once they arrived at the PCC, ASL Club members led the families through the villages of Aotearoa, Samoa, and Tonga. It was a different experience for the PCC employees who have not had much experience working with individuals from the deaf community. “It was difficult to find other ways to communicate,” said Jen Amitoe Lau, a business management major from Utah who works at the PCC. “However, I really enjoyed it. You can see the excitement and joy in their eyes and faces.” 

The group started in the Aotearoa village, playing traditional Maori games with the village workers. The workers, challenged with not being able to speak to instruct the games, found ways to work around these limitations. Laughs ensued as everyone had fun playing the playing with the poi balls and Tititorea, a tradition stick rhythmic game.  “It was fun to see all the kids and the different ways they were communicating,” said Natalie DeMartini, a psychology major from California. “They were friends whether they could hear or not. There’s a lot we could learn from them.” 

During the Tongan village drum show, the ASL Club students started dancing, bringing some of the Hands and Voices children with them. The deaf children could feel the vibrations of the beats from the drum, making it an activity that deaf and hearing children could enjoy together. The main Tongan village performer selected one of the deaf gentlemen to participate. With the assistance of an ASL Club interpreter, he was able to participate fully in the show. “It has been a positive experience for my kids to see so many others signing,” said Paul McDonnell, a member of the deaf community in Hawaii. “An event like this is good for us because it opens so many closed doors.”

Because parents of deaf children often receive biased advice as to what their course of action should be, Hands and Voices offers unbiased information about all the options that families have when they look for educational and technological opportunities to help in their unique circumstances. Hands and Voices offers assistance in teaching children signs and cues, researching technology such as hearing aids or cochlear implants, and finding educational alternatives for children. It also provides a community in which families can learn from each other. The organizational motto is “What works for your family is what makes your choice right.” 

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