Peace in sign language — by Tagreed al Mazaldeen, 14

These are the signs of deaf and blind people.

My father teaches us these signs.

These signs mean love and peace.

My father told us that we don’t need these signs to understand each other, we only need a smile on our face so we can express the love and peace among us.

I wish all people were deaf and blind, we could have a peaceful world and all the wars could end between humans.

Tagreed’s father cannot hear or speak, but uses sign language to communicate. Tagreed and her siblings learned sign language from him. She is obviously immensely proud and fond of her father. Despite his disability, she says he ‘works very hard to take care of us all. We see this and appreciate what he does for us. He is so kind and gentle.’ She believes that if more people were like her father, the fighting in her country would stop.

Tagreed has been in Lebanon for three years. She is not in school but she attends the Young Journalist Club of Beyond Association, where she wrote this open letter to world leaders.