Every life improved is a small victory

When South African seems to be blanketed in doom and pessimism, it gives the heart a little flip to know that, here and there, quiet little miracles are happening which are transforming the lives of the general population.

The Ndlovu Wits Audiology (NWA) clinic, run by experts from Wits University, has been doing praiseworthy outreach work in identifying and helping people with hearing disabilities.

Hearing is something most of us take for granted but, in this country, hearing problems are the third-most prevalent form of disability, after visual impairment and physical disability.

So, the work of the NWA is vital.

It is also interesting that 83% of the patients who were helped by the NWA clinics were youngsters, aged between infants and 14.

That effectively means these kids have been given back their lives and at least have a better shot at making it than they would have, had deafness held them back.

Certainly, there will be those who say about this project, “so what?”.

There is so much suffering and so many needs to be met that this work may be regarded as a mere drop in the ocean.

But even one life improved is a victory.

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