We are celebrating #WorldHearingDay on March 3, 2020 by giving a child in need the Gift of Hearing!
Hearing Loss affects almost 50 Million children across the world and many do not have access to proper hearing care.
In British Columbia, we are fortunate to have newborn hearing screening to enable early detection and treatment while protecting children against missed diagnosis. Unfortunately, other parts of the world are not as lucky.
In many countries, children often go undiagnosed for years and families often do not have the financial means to help manage their child’s hearing loss. Unmanaged hearing loss can impact a child’s speech/language development, success at school, and social development.
Meet Nahom Shiferaw, a 9-year-old child from Doukem Ethiopia. Nahom is one of these children who went undiagnosed for 9 years. Nahom was raised by her grandparents who have both recently passed away. She is now being raised by her aunt who noticed that she has been withdrawing more and more from family and friends. When she suspected that she wasn’t hearing, they took her to a local Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor who diagnosed her with moderate hearing loss in both ears, but there was no access to hearing aids.
Nahom’s aunt, who lives right here in Kelowna wanted to help give her niece Nahom the best chance to succeed and reached out to Dr. Nichole Sorensen for guidance.
“Nahom is a beautiful soul. She is a kind, bright little girl. It was heartbreaking to see how much she was withdrawing from the world around her during my last visit with her,” states Nahom’s Aunt Menbere.
We were determined to help, and together with Signia decided to donate a pair of hearing aids and hearing care via telehealth to Nahom. Properly fit hearing aids will ideally give Nahom the best chance to succeed at school, connect with family and friend’s, and foster a sense of self-sufficiency.
It is amazing that we now have the technology to offer hearing care via telehealth to those with limited access. Nahom, her aunt Menbere, and Nichole have set up several skype meetings to converse with Nahom. Nahom is also able to go to the local library where Nichole can adjust the hearing aids if her hearing deteriorates further.
Lakeside Hearing is proud to celebrate World Hearing Day (March 3) with this incredible donation from Signia.
The team at Lakeside Hearing highly values giving back to our local and worldwide community and has been able to donate several sets of hearing aids and hearing care to help those in need.
