Tan YifanTan Yifan

    cicitan2011@gmail.com

    IT’S been six years since 38-year-old IT engineer Li Gang founded Two Cups of Water, a sign language club targeting anyone who wants to communicate with people suffering from hearing impairments.

    When Li and his peers established the volunteer group in 2007, Li said, they expected to enhance their sign language skills relatively quickly. That’s proven to be true — Li said his skills have largely improved and he now has many more opportunities to interact with people with hearing impairments.

    But he’s also made an unexpected discovery. Li said he realized that he once treated the hearing impaired with bias.

    “When I tried to communicate with them, I often subconsciously held myself aloft, above them, telling myself that they were vulnerable and needed people’s help,” Li said. “But once I stepped into their lives I realized I was wrong. What I did was not giving them alms; instead, the act of help was bidirectional. We are equal and they’ve also helped me, in return.”

    Li has reevaluated his views about public welfare. He said he has been reshaped by communicating in sign language and has become determined to share the ability with more people.

    Two cups

    While working with Shenzhen Volunteer Association for around 10 years, Li felt the need to learn sign language because he occasionally met people with hearing impairments. He began to learn the language in 2003, but said the progress was frustrating because “there was no teacher or study group” he could learn with. Li gradually met some other sign language learners and volunteers who shared his goal, and eventually developed Two Cups of Water.

    “Two Cups of Water can be deciphered as one cup containing water for public welfare and another cup filled with water for those interested in learning sign language,” he said.

    To Li, water possesses the power to flow slowly but deeply into people’s veins, which he said is the ideal approach to volunteerism.

    “We hope to build a platform for equal and friendly communication between non-impaired people and people who are deaf, mute or both,” Li explained. “By learning sign language we learn to listen and understand the inner world of those people, which is just like raising two cups of water while chatting with them.”

    Making friends

    Li made a close friend at a local sign language performance three years ago. It was that friend, who is hearing-impaired, who gave Li the idea of including other people with impairments in his team.

    “I came to him after enjoying the performance, which he had choreographed,” Li said. “He was such a character. He was young and positive, and presented the audience with well-designed sign language dance. I was surprised by his talent and decided to invite him to join us.”

    Zheng Shaoge, then a student performer in his late teens, expressed interest in helping others through Li’s team. His participation soon stirred a sensation among local deaf and mute communities.

    “Without Zheng’s help, Two Cups of Water wouldn’t have come as far as it has reached today,” Li said. “We shouldn’t set a boundary between the helper and the beneficiary.”

    Zheng’s appearance was eye-opening to Li. Li said Zheng lives an ordinary life, loves fashion and is sometimes splashy with money. He knows how to enjoy life, Li said, and is very enthusiastic when offering help.

    “I found that I used to be very narrow-minded and naive,” Li said. “I thought there were so many favors I should do when facing people with disabilities. But in fact, what I should do is understand their needs and thoughts. It is very silly to ignore their feelings and impose our thoughts on them. That pushes them farther away from us rather than starting a connection.”

    Li Yanqi, a media professional and a close friend of Li, said Li Gang friendly nature is contagious.

    “To me, Li Gang has treated the people he helped as family members,” Li Yanqi said. “I was introduced to him by Zheng. The way Zheng talked about Li was like a little kid bragging about his older brother. Li regards the people he helps as normal people and loves to share his life with them, which breaks the communication barrier and helps to build their friendship.”

    Tireless promotion

    Having spent years with people with disabilities, Li said educating professional signers is an urgent need. Li organizes sign language classes that last for several months, with the help of people with hearing impairments, and a weekly sign language corner at Shenzhen’s Civic Center. As more people expressed interest, Li added a sign language workshop for children, saying youngsters “are more open to language and people with differences.”

    Li said he wants to help people get closer to the essence of volunteerism and have heart-to-heart communication with people in need. He’s striving to build a team that can narrow the gaps between non-impaired people and people with disabilities.

    “Due to the communication barrier, people with hearing impairments live in a small circle and are hardly accepted by the public,” Li said. “With the help of professional signers, hopefully the living space for people with hearing impairments will be enlarged. As a result, they could exert more power to improve the well-being of society.”

    Many of Li’s teammates have found their future path with the help of sign language. Six people from the team, for example, have passed the simultaneous interpretation exam for sign language.

    But Li said the club still has a long way to go before it grows into a professional team.

    “I have seen a lot of people come and go in the club through the years, which makes its development a bit unstable,” Li said. “Many participants couldn’t stay for long because they found it was hard to learn the language or keep up with the class. I can’t require them to stay or monitor their progress since they all have their own work to do. People are free to decide whether to continue helping others with the club, and you can’t blame them if they walk away.”

    To make sure that there are always signers available, Li said he needs to encourage more people to learn sign language and apply the skill to help others.

    “When you make a larger plate, you have more space for various dishes, which gives you more choices,” Li said.

    “Holding two cups of water, we let people know sign language and the power of volunteering,” Li said. “Gradually, people will see the power of water penetrating a stone by nonstop dripping.”

    Li Gang teaches sign language in an undated file photo. Photos by courtesy of Li GangA group photo of Li Gang and students who display sign language at Shenzhen UniversityLi Gang holds a child his club helps..

    cicitan2011@gmail.com

    IT’S been six years since 38-year-old IT engineer Li Gang founded Two Cups of Water, a sign language club targeting anyone who wants to communicate with people suffering from hearing impairments.

    When Li and his peers established the volunteer group in 2007, Li said, they expected to enhance their sign language skills relatively quickly. That’s proven to be true — Li said his skills have largely improved and he now has many more opportunities to interact with people with hearing impairments.

    But he’s also made an unexpected discovery. Li said he realized that he once treated the hearing impaired with bias.

    “When I tried to communicate with them, I often subconsciously held myself aloft, above them, telling myself that they were vulnerable and needed people’s help,” Li said. “But once I stepped into their lives I realized I was wrong. What I did was not giving them alms; instead, the act of help was bidirectional. We are equal and they’ve also helped me, in return.”

    Li has reevaluated his views about public welfare. He said he has been reshaped by communicating in sign language and has become determined to share the ability with more people.

    Two cups

    While working with Shenzhen Volunteer Association for around 10 years, Li felt the need to learn sign language because he occasionally met people with hearing impairments. He began to learn the language in 2003, but said the progress was frustrating because “there was no teacher or study group” he could learn with. Li gradually met some other sign language learners and volunteers who shared his goal, and eventually developed Two Cups of Water.

    “Two Cups of Water can be deciphered as one cup containing water for public welfare and another cup filled with water for those interested in learning sign language,” he said.

    To Li, water possesses the power to flow slowly but deeply into people’s veins, which he said is the ideal approach to volunteerism.

    “We hope to build a platform for equal and friendly communication between non-impaired people and people who are deaf, mute or both,” Li explained. “By learning sign language we learn to listen and understand the inner world of those people, which is just like raising two cups of water while chatting with them.”

    Making friends

    Li made a close friend at a local sign language performance three years ago. It was that friend, who is hearing-impaired, who gave Li the idea of including other people with impairments in his team.

    “I came to him after enjoying the performance, which he had choreographed,” Li said. “He was such a character. He was young and positive, and presented the audience with well-designed sign language dance. I was surprised by his talent and decided to invite him to join us.”

    Zheng Shaoge, then a student performer in his late teens, expressed interest in helping others through Li’s team. His participation soon stirred a sensation among local deaf and mute communities.

    “Without Zheng’s help, Two Cups of Water wouldn’t have come as far as it has reached today,” Li said. “We shouldn’t set a boundary between the helper and the beneficiary.”

    Zheng’s appearance was eye-opening to Li. Li said Zheng lives an ordinary life, loves fashion and is sometimes splashy with money. He knows how to enjoy life, Li said, and is very enthusiastic when offering help.

    “I found that I used to be very narrow-minded and naive,” Li said. “I thought there were so many favors I should do when facing people with disabilities. But in fact, what I should do is understand their needs and thoughts. It is very silly to ignore their feelings and impose our thoughts on them. That pushes them farther away from us rather than starting a connection.”

    Li Yanqi, a media professional and a close friend of Li, said Li Gang friendly nature is contagious.

    “To me, Li Gang has treated the people he helped as family members,” Li Yanqi said. “I was introduced to him by Zheng. The way Zheng talked about Li was like a little kid bragging about his older brother. Li regards the people he helps as normal people and loves to share his life with them, which breaks the communication barrier and helps to build their friendship.”

    Tireless promotion

    Having spent years with people with disabilities, Li said educating professional signers is an urgent need. Li organizes sign language classes that last for several months, with the help of people with hearing impairments, and a weekly sign language corner at Shenzhen’s Civic Center. As more people expressed interest, Li added a sign language workshop for children, saying youngsters “are more open to language and people with differences.”

    Li said he wants to help people get closer to the essence of volunteerism and have heart-to-heart communication with people in need. He’s striving to build a team that can narrow the gaps between non-impaired people and people with disabilities.

    “Due to the communication barrier, people with hearing impairments live in a small circle and are hardly accepted by the public,” Li said. “With the help of professional signers, hopefully the living space for people with hearing impairments will be enlarged. As a result, they could exert more power to improve the well-being of society.”

    Many of Li’s teammates have found their future path with the help of sign language. Six people from the team, for example, have passed the simultaneous interpretation exam for sign language.

    But Li said the club still has a long way to go before it grows into a professional team.

    “I have seen a lot of people come and go in the club through the years, which makes its development a bit unstable,” Li said. “Many participants couldn’t stay for long because they found it was hard to learn the language or keep up with the class. I can’t require them to stay or monitor their progress since they all have their own work to do. People are free to decide whether to continue helping others with the club, and you can’t blame them if they walk away.”

    To make sure that there are always signers available, Li said he needs to encourage more people to learn sign language and apply the skill to help others.

    “When you make a larger plate, you have more space for various dishes, which gives you more choices,” Li said.

    “Holding two cups of water, we let people know sign language and the power of volunteering,” Li said. “Gradually, people will see the power of water penetrating a stone by nonstop dripping.”

“By learning sign language we learn to listen and understand the inner world of [hearing-impaired] people.”

— Li Gang, a 38-year-old IT engineer who founded Two Cups of Water, a sign language club