My first ever Canada Day not being in Canada! Instead, I was in Taman Negara, a tropical rainforest in Malaysia. On our seven-hour journey there, I noticed a little 2-year crying out loud on the bus. She kept crying and I was wondering to myself, "Why are her parents ignoring her?" I felt quite sheepish for judging too quickly when I found out later that her parents were deaf. They used sign language to communicate to their three children (who were not deaf).In the morning, we made our way to the Canopy walkway. It was quite a long hike up, really not consistent with a mix of rocks, stairs, branches, sometimes really steep, other times flat. I noticed behind me the parents with the 2 year old sitting on daddy's shoulders. I could tell the mother was really struggling so I slowed down and offered her a hand for the really big steps. Later on, dad looked exhausted and put down the child. I took her tiny little hand and walked her a few steps. Then I picked her up and kept walking. I kind of expected her to break free from me and go back to dad, but to my surprise, she was really calm and still.
By the end of our 3 day tour of Teman Negara, I felt so blessed to have the chance to bond with the family through sign language, smiles and little acts of love.
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