Breaking The Silence (BTS) is one of the projects of Department of Medical Education (DOME), Medical Students Committee For International Affairs (MSCIA). This activity aims to improve the ability to communicate using sign language for students of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya who are later expected to contribute in facilitating communication access for the Deaf, especially in the health sector. BTS was held in a series of campaign activities, along with a workshop and webinar on September 19th and 26th, 2021.
A series of campaign was carried out by BTS 2021 in the form of hinting songs, the alphabet campaign and Find the Words in BISINDO, the Instagram filter guessing BISINDO sentences made to understand the sentence of help, the online petition “Peduli Tuli”, the video Hear Out The Silent (HOUSE. A BTS special News of Medical Education (NOME) was broadcasted live on Radio Kalimaya Bhaskara Malang 102.1 FM. With the support of other media partners including LPM Diagnostika, Radar Malang, kamibijak, sejutacita.id, and Event Info, along with the sponsors of INDIGOKART Indonesia, BTS 2021 was held in a total success.
BTS was held on September 16th and 26th, 2021 via Zoom Meeting in collaboration with Gerkatin Malang, Shining Tuli Batu, Aktu Sidoarjo, PSLD UB, Silang.id, and the UB Concerned Student Forum for Inclusion (FORMAPI). On the first day, Medical Faculty students were provided with health and hearing loss materials given by dr. M. Dwijo Murdiyo, Sp.THT-KL(K), FICS. Then continued with Indonesian sign language (BISINDO) material and material on Deaf cultures given by Muhammad Hassanudin, S.Par. from Gerkatin Malang. Sign language training for volunteers was carried out in small working group sessions at breakout zoom with facilitators from Deaf friends and Sign Language Interpreters (JBI). On the second day, volunteers and webinar participants were presented with an introduction to the history and basics of using sign language by Kak Bagja, the co-founder of SILANG. It was then followed by a talk show with drg. Diana N. Ramdaniar who shared her experience of learning sign language and its importance for health workers. The talkshow was moderated by Anjani, a representative from FORMAPI UB. The high enthusiasm of students in participating in BTS 2021 and extraordinary support from external parties was proven by the 121 volunteers, 495 webinar participants, 12 Deaf friends, 7 JBI who attended, and the online petition “Peduli Deaf” signed by 452 contributors.