Helping Hand helps people hear again
The donation will be used by Helping Hand’s #HearAgain Project to make hearing aids available to needy people and the elderly.
Solidarity Helping Hand and the Ear Institute in Pretoria celebrated World Hearing Day this week by donating hearing aids to people who cannot afford them.
The event was celebrated with a donation from the Ear Institute of 30 newly serviced, second-hand hearing aids. The Ear Institute sponsors all tests associated with the apparatus, as well as the fitting thereof.
The donation will be used by Helping Hand’s #HearAgain Project to make hearing aids available to needy people and the elderly.
Benette Welman, Helping Hand’s #HearAgain Project Organiser, says this gesture links up to Hearing for all, the theme of World Hearing Day which was celebrated this past Wednesday.
“The #HearAgain Project aims to give seniors and persons with hearing impairments the gift of hearing. It broadens their world again and makes it easier for them to participate in conversations. We are grateful that the Ear Institute joins us as a networking partner to strengthen this project,” says Welman.
Welman is excited that Helping Hand will be joining hands with the Ear Institute that has been functioning as an established family practice since 1975. Part of the Ear Institute’s interests includes the Eduplex School, which is a mainstream Christian school in Queenswood, and specifically the Eduplex Training Institute, which aims to, among other things, provide inclusive education for hearing impaired people.
The Eduplex Training Institute achieves this goal by presenting basic inclusive workshops to teachers, audiologists and other professionals, which will soon include Helping Hand’s social workers. In collaboration with the Eduplex Training Institute, awareness campaigns are planned to make the public familiar with hearing hygiene, as well as the early identification of hearing impairment in children. This awareness campaign will also go hand in hand with projects of Solidarity Helping Hand’s national branch for hearing impairment to raise awareness about the world of people with hearing impairment.
“We are grateful to every partner who buys into #HearAgain Project. Apart from the Ear Institute which has 24 branches across the country, the Pretoria Institute for Hearing, as well as Deon Ceronio in Bloemfontein, are also part of the project. Audiologists across South Africa who want to become part of the #HearAgain Project is welcome to contact us,” says Welman.
Dr. Marinda Uys, Senior Audiologist and Head of the Eduplex Training Institute, says the Ear Institute is proud to be involved in Helping Hand’s #HearAgain Project, as well as with the national branch for hearing impairment.
“We would like to give something back to the community. Hearing is a gift without which life can become terribly lonely. We want to help people to hear again so that they can actively participate in the activities around them and enjoy social interaction with friends and family,” says Uys.
Senior persons or persons with hearing impairment who wish to apply to receive hearing aids through the #HearAgain Project can send an email to bejaardes@helpendehand.co.za.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
