On Pico Island the mother gave birth to a baby girl with green eyes and curly hair who liked to pick fruit from the trees. One night, the girl fell ill. The mother felt a great sorrow, a great sadness. She looked at the little girl and cried. The mother accepted me. We went on a long boat trip where there were other deaf children from other islands. Around me, I saw a lot of mime. They called me, we continued with the gestures but then they hit us on the hands. We had to speak. Mime was forbidden. We began to do it secretly. I fought back! I traveled to another world! I found Portuguese Sign Language, my language, I found my identity, my culture and I returned to the island of São Miguel. I met deaf people and friends, I taught Portuguese Sign Language, together we founded ASISM. Then the deaf group was invited to participate in a music festival. There were drums, piano… I did not like it at first, I hesitated with all that vibration. But in two years the group has grown. We came back to the third year and in this fourth year we have more young people and a choir.
— Ema Gonçalves, São Miguel Island Deaf Association President