00:00Shouting in the choir, you're not alone
00:03This is not your average choir.
00:05Here, words take a back seat and your hands take centre stage.
00:10This choir is very different to all the others.
00:12There was no singing involved unless you want to.
00:15All the words instead are done with your hands.
00:18The most important part in communicating with people
00:21who are deaf or hard of hearing.
00:23Kisses with the accent.
00:26Vision's signing choir meet up every Thursday evening in Jenningham
00:30to bring people together for one sole reason, to sign.
00:34And this choir creates a community where everyone is welcome.
00:38Like tonight, hearing, deaf, they can all come together, enjoy the music,
00:44whether they're feeling it, whether they've got hearing aids in.
00:47But we all mix together and we can sign and we can sing.
00:50Well, we don't really sing much, but we sign and we just enjoy the music
00:56and everyone can get together.
00:58Other members of the choir say that it provides a safe space
01:01for those who are deaf or hard of hearing,
01:03especially when they may not have a space of their own.
01:06It would be nice to have more spaces where deaf people feel comfortable
01:10and where they can communicate in their own language
01:13and feel a part of something because they've had a lot of oppression over the years.
01:20A lot of their spaces have closed down.
01:26This is Mina. She started to lose her hearing nine years ago
01:30and often feels judged when she's out in public.
01:34That's when she and her daughter joined the choir.
01:37You can tell people, sorry, can you face me?
01:43Can you speak clearly?
01:45And maybe for the first two minutes they will remember,
01:51but then they start to look away or they look down or they start to mumble.
01:58And you can't keep asking them, can you repeat that?
02:03Can you repeat that?
02:06Because in the end you get, oh, never mind.
02:10So you just feel that, yeah, you're being judged.
02:17The choir is open to seasoned pros and beginners alike
02:21as they learn a new song almost every week.
02:24So I took this as an opportunity to learn some sign language myself.
02:35Though my signing does need some work, the environment allows for mistakes.
02:41And in a choir where voices aren't needed,
02:43the message of community is still being heard loud and clear.
02:48Nayla Mahamid for KMTV in Dhilligam.
02:51This fire is potent썹 not.
02:52Listen to the love you guys.
02:53See what is alive?
02:53This is what is all I like.
02:56Give me what is all I like.
02:57I hope we enjoyed this to end today.
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