An entire town learned sign language for one hearing-impaired man, because people are awesome

Today in Things That Make Us Happy-Weep, we learned about a hearing-impaired man named Muaharrem living in Istanbul who was completely surprised by the small town in which he lives. Set up by Samsung and ad company Leo Burnett, a crew taught and trained everyone how to communicate in sign language —so this way, Muaharrem would feel more included and understood. After a month of community sign language classes, cameras were set up all throughout town, capturing moments where members of Muaharrem’s community started randomly speaking with him via sign language.

The best part is that Muaharrem had no idea this was happening. He and his sister just walked outside one day like it was a regular old day. But it wasn’t. As soon as he stepped inside a local store, the cashier greeted him in sign language. A woman accidentally bumped into him, and she signed an apology. His cab driver greeted him with a jovial, “Hello.”

By the time this guy finds out the entire town is in on this act of kindness, he’s in wonderful, astonished tears. Filmed by Samsung for their latest campaign for Turkey’s brand new video call center for the hearing impaired, this project goes to show that it’s totally possible to change someone life with effort and compassion.

Watch the entire ad here and feel your heart warm up with good, good feelings.

Image via YouTube