Linh is deaf. Her life was fine until she wanted to make friends with foreigners. The language barrier was already significant; the barrier in communication was even greater. She took a risk and posted on the OVFRIENDS general forum in both Vietnamese and English: “Does anyone here use sign language?”
A day passed with no interaction. On the second day, her post was buried under hundreds of others. Linh started to feel hopeless. Perhaps the online world wasn’t for her either.
On the evening of the third day, a message unexpectedly appeared. It wasn’t long, just two simple words from a Portuguese man: “I do.”
In that moment, Linh burst into tears.
The two began talking via video call, using the language of hands and eyes. They realized that many deaf people all over the world were also yearning to connect. Now, their OVFRIENDS channel has become a small classroom where they teach international sign language for free to the community.