Yogyakarta, September 27th 2024─The Student Family of Social Development and Welfare (Kapstra) of FISIPOL UGM organized a sign language class entitled Dialog Sunyi (Dialogue of Silence). The event, which was held at FISIPOL UGM, is a collaborative work program between Kapstra FISIPOL UGM and Gerkatin (Gerakan untuk Kesejahteraan Tunarungu Indonesia) as one of the NGOs (Non-Profit Organization) engaged in the welfare and empowerment of the deaf.
The Dialog Sunyi was held regularly every Friday for three weeks from September 13, 20, and 27, 2024. This event is a manifestation of the spirit of inclusion built by Kapstra FISIPOL UGM students.
According to them, there is a need for mutual awareness to remove barriers to dialogue with deaf friends so that they can move together to create inclusivity. “Dialog Sunyi aims to accommodate students who want to learn sign language and raise awareness of inclusion, especially for the hearing impaired,” said Camila Qivtia Anggun Sukmaningrum, a member of the Social Society Division who designed Dialog Sunyi.
Dialog Sunyi invites participants to learn the basics of sign language starting from the alphabet, vocabulary for everyday life, to stringing words together to interact with deaf friends. “Here we learn together basic sign language without certification for participants because our big goal is to raise awareness of the importance of learning sign language and hopefully in the future participants will be interested in learning it in institutions that provide certificates,” explained Cancala, as a member of the Social Community Division who helped organize this event.
Dialog Sunyi is open for free to all UGM academicians who want to experience learning sign language directly with the deaf community. In fact, this event was not only attended by Faculty of Social and Political Sciences students, but also by students from outside the Faculty who were interested in learning sign language. “I am very happy to be able to participate in the Silent Dialogue and learn sign language directly from the experts because in addition to filling my free time I can also open up insights about the importance of sign language in communicating with deaf friends,” said Sandya, one of the Dialog Sunyi participants. She also hopes that this activity continues and can reach more people, so that more people understand sign language and create a more inclusive environment.
Dialog Sunyi is a concrete step from Kapstra of FISIPOL UGM as part of FISIPOL UGM and Gerkatin to increase student knowledge in using sign language and raise awareness to create inclusivity. That way, the 4th sustainable development goal on quality education and the 10th on reducing inequality can be achieved.