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Bringing global hope and healing to people with hearing loss

Answer the call to support long-term, sustainable hearing health care through our humanitarian trips.

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Support Hearing the Call

The vision of Hearing the Call is to create long-term, sustainable hearing health care through humanitarian trips.

How is that sustainability achieved? It is a three-step process.

Reaching Those in Need
Provide immediate hearing health care to those children and adults with no access to hearing health care, globally or at home.
Providing Hearing Aids
Partner with communities, globally and at home, to train and support long-term hearing health care through scholarships, equipment, and building clinics.
Continuous Support
Train, educate and equip on-site caregivers to create sustainable hearing health care in the areas we are serving, along with providing continued education, supplies and support.
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Student Initiative

Experience hands-on medical training while out of school.

Hearing the Call has an abiding interest in the success of audiology doctoral students, and our providers want to share their collective experience of “best practices” for underserved regions on Hearing the Call humanitarian trips, which are powered by the Entheos Audiology Cooperative.

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Our International Partners

Humanitarian Trip Vision

STAGE 1: Reaching Those in Need

Hearing the Call provides immediate relief in a location which has very limited or no access to hearing health care. The initial stage can be a 2-year to 3-year process, which allows the program the necessary time to develop relationships and understanding with partners and the local community. To be able to build long-term hearing health care, we need support from our local partner and buy-in from the local community. In the meantime, we provide much needed, immediate care for children and adults in the country.

STAGE 2: Providing Hearing Aids

Development actually starts during the relief portion, after Hearing the Call, along with its partner, determines needs, resources, and culture. This is when buy-in from the community is very important because the program will fundraise for scholarships, training, and potential stipends for audio technicians to perform follow-up and maintenance checks. If something more critical is needed, the audio technicians have support from the program to help fix any problems that occur. In this stage, additional fundraising is also done for equipment that stays in country to support future work in the community.

STAGE 3: Continuous Support

The long-term goal of Hearing the Call is to create sustainable hearing health care. This means helping the local audio technicians create a viable business. The technicians will receive advice and help in executing a simple business plan supported by the program. The technicians will also receive the equipment necessary to maintain the business and hearing health care for patients using best practices. This will include a continuing education plan as well as any support needed in repairs or replacement hearing aids for their patients.

Hearing The Call
In Zambia

In the southern region of Africa resides Zambia, a developing nation of almost 17 million people. It’s full of amazing wildlife and incredible cultures. However, with all those individuals, it has only one audiologist.

Zambia was one of the first locations for Hearing the Call back in September 2013. We partnered with Fountain of Life, a nonprofit that builds schools and clinics in Zambia.

One local man who volunteered to help during our trips was Samuel Fundiwa. He fell in love with our philosophy. Each trip, Sammy took on more and more responsibility. He was excited to learn how he could truly help his people. He recently completed an audiology technician course in the United States. Sammy now has equipment to help him maintain hearing aids, as he continues to learn to become completely self-sustaining.

Hearing The Call
In Mexico

Mexico is the neighbor to the south of the United States made up of more than 130 million people. Mexico has great diversity from its beautiful beaches on the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico to the mountains and canyons of the interior.

Mexico is one of the newer Hearing the Call locations as we have partnered with Integra A.C. in the town of Coatzacoalcos. Integra not only provides healthcare to people in need but also job training and education.

One of the first patients the team saw was a 10-year-old boy named Said who had severe to profound hearing loss since birth. When the hearing aids were first turned on, Said was a little bit overwhelmed at first by all the sound he has missed out in his life. Then, Said started to adjust and open up to a brand-new world. Said left with a beautiful hearing smile and he got a chance to learn, grow and connect with his family and friends.

Hearing The Call
In Jordan

Jordan is a country defined by a mix of the past and present. Jordan is defined by ancient monuments, nature reserves, and seaside resorts. It’s home to the famed archaeological site of Petra, the Nabatean capital dating to around 300 B.C. Set in a narrow valley with tombs, temples, and monuments carved into the surrounding pink sandstone cliffs, Petra earns its nickname, the “Rose City.” Jordan has a population of 9.46 million.

Hearing the Call started in Jordan in September 2014.

In the town of Zarqa’, a refugee camp, one mother shared her heart-breaking story with us. When the bombing started, she raced out of her home in Syria with nothing except her purse with her children’s birth certificates. Through it all, she had hearing damage. The team was able to help her hear better and, as she says, restore her dignity. The mother says she will be able to raise her kids better, because she can now hear them and help them, which will reduce their frustration with her. Even though her face was covered by her veil, everyone could see the smile she had on her face, as her eyes lit up.

One of the difficulties with Jordan is the state of Syrian refugees. According to the United Nations, there are currently more than 657,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan camps. A portion have hearing loss due to the war and other conditions. Through our work, Hearing the Call has partnered with organizations to get audio testing equipment to Jordan and the West Bank. A few local communities will now be able to provide hearing healthcare to the people who live there.

Hearing The Call
In Guatemala

The population of Guatemala continues to grow, but the number of audiologists in the country does not. In a country of 17 million people, most have little or no access to any hearing healthcare. With education resources being limited, kids who have a hearing impairment can get forced out of school.

During a recent trip, an audiologist noticed one of our translators, Hilda, who is also a social worker, was having difficulty hearing. She had been hiding her hearing loss because she wanted to see others get help first and she was scared that nothing could help her. So, on the last day of the clinic, the team fit Hilda with a hearing aid and she was moved to tears. Her hearing was restored and she can relate to all those who face hearing impairment.

Hearing the Call has been in Guatemala since February 2015 and works in three areas, Panajachel, Nuevo Progreso and Petén. With its current partner Smiles that Listen, Hearing the Call is solidly in development. Currently, three students were given scholarships to attend school for audiology. They are preparing to graduate in 2020. Through the scholarship program, the students volunteer their time in exchange for the education.  Smiles that Listen holds education programs and training for audiological help.

Hearing The Call
In Ecuador

Ecuador is a country straddling the equator on South America’s west coast. Its diverse landscape encompasses Amazon jungle, Andean highlands, and the wildlife-rich Galápagos Islands. The population of Ecuador is 16.6 million people and some areas are in great need.

In April 2016, a devastating earthquake destroyed most of the coastal city of Manta. The following year in August, Hearing the Call began relief in Manta. Hearing the Call again partnered with Woodland Public Charities.

One teen boy named Byron was struggling with hearing loss. His parents did not know what was wrong. His father had been taking him to a psychiatrist and telling people Byron was crazy. After Byron was fit with hearing aids, his mother broke down crying. His father had no idea this was the problem and was very happy to know his son was going to do better in school. Byron was happy he could hear better and looked forward to listening to rap music.

Hearing The Call
In Mozambique

Mozambique is a southern African nation along the Indian Ocean. The capital of Maputo is a modern city, while much of the rest of the country is rural. The population is nearly 29 million and the government of Mozambique has identified thousands of people with disabling hearing loss.

Hearing the Call partnered with the Rizwan Foundation in June 2017, in conjunction with the Health Ministry. Mozambique does have audiology technicians and equipment, which leaves great potential to move quickly into development and empowerment.

One mom there has twin boys and she says one of them has always been a bad boy. The boy’s name is Paolo, and he was having trouble in school and acting out because he actually had a hearing disability. After fitting Paolo with hearing aids, his mother was amazed. She believes this will help keep Paolo from acting out, because he will be less frustrated and able to communicate and connect better with others.

Hearing The Call
In South Africa

One of Hearing the Call’s newest locations is South Africa, which began in June 2018. With a population of more than 56 million people, the country is marked by several distinct ecosystems. Inland safari destination Kruger National Park is populated by big game animals. The Western Cape offers beaches, lush winelands around Stellenbosch and Paarl, craggy cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope, forest and lagoons along the Garden Route, and the city of Cape Town, beneath flat-topped Table Mountain.

The country has a very long waiting list for people who need hearing aids, which can be several years. We have partnered with the eMoyo Foundation in South Africa, which is making a huge dent in hearing healthcare. The founder created the Kuduwave, which allows for mass screenings, even under less-than-ideal conditions. In addition, eMoyo is working with the government in the fight against medications that are ototoxic.

On the most recent trip, the team tested nearly 1,300 kids in the Kanana school in the township of Tembisa. The team cleaned wax plugs out of hundreds of kids’ ears, which will not only reduce pain and discomfort, but also will allow them to hear better.

Hearing The Call
In India

India boasts the second largest city in the world, Delhi, with over 32 million citizens calling the “Heart of India” home. A mecca for the spice trade, Delhi has seen its population boom in recent years as more and more rural families turn their sights to the metropolis. However, the increasing population has brought a strain on medical services available to those most in need. That is why we partnered with ALPS Center for Hearing Excellence to provide hearing care to over 250 people.

A local woman attended the event one day after losing her husband of many years. Through tears and heartache she was able to communicate to the volunteers that in spite of her husband’s recent passing, he would have wanted her to keep her appointment so that she could live a more fulfilling life with her new hearing instruments. Though still dealing with the grief of her loss, she was appreciative and hopeful that her new devices would be able to better help her remember her long term life partner through sharing stories about him with her friends and family.

Hearing The Call
In Indonesia

In Indonesia, there was a father and son pair who have both lived with untreated hearing loss for decades. When they came into the hearing aid fitting room, they were outwardly melancholy — their faces reflected the loneliness that accompanies the social isolation so prevalent in those with hearing loss. 

The father had such severe hearing loss that he simply kept his head down while his son listened intently as we loudly described the hearing aid fitting process.

Our team put hearing aids on both father and son. When we clicked that “unmute” button in the hearing aid software, their previously black and white world came alight with color. 

Melancholy became excitement and hope as they realized they could communicate with each other without difficulty for the first time in years. Their new colorful world radiated to everyone else’s around them. They’re color everyone in that room will see for the rest of their lives.

Hearing The Call
In Brazil

A Brazilian councilwoman, from several hours outside of Brasilia, heard about the Hearing the Call event. She rounded up five friends and colleagues in her life who she knew needed hearing help.

At 3 o’clock in the morning she and her friends drove over 300 kms, 5 hours each way, to attend the Hearing the Call clinic. After their treatment, they drove home, arriving at 11PM.

The following day, at 3AM, she woke up and drove five hours each way again, in order to bring an additional five people to the Hearing the Call clinic.

Hearing The Call
In Turks & Caicos

Amidst the island nation of Turks and Caicos sits one of the country’s smallest communities, South Caicos.

With pride, the citizens will regale stories of being the home to President George Washington’s favorite salt, as well as being the only island in Turks and Caicos to welcome a sitting royal member, when Queen Elizabeth visited in 1966. The island is home to large reefs, abundant fishing and picturesque views.

With little over 1,000 citizens, South Caicos has seen its population dwindle over the years with many citizens fleeing to more densely populated islands. The island does not have any doctors or nurses currently living there and instead must travel by plane to the surrounding islands should locals require medical attention.

Though helping majority school children while visiting the island, Hearing the Call was able to help fit 80 year old local resident, William B. Born in 1943, William has lived his entire life on the small island amongst friends and family.

Accompanied by his daughter, William was given the gift of hearing on the final clinic day and could not have been more appreciative or humble. It’s moments like this, with patients like William, that remind us all that we are better together.