We visited 7 different remote sites, involving 11 camp days and 4 travelling & rest days, a total of 15 days.
PARTICIPATING STAFF:
LUMBINI: Motilal
JANAKPUR: Kamala, Rajnandan & Ramlesh
From KATHMANDU: Keshab, Saraswati
From Ladakh, INDIA: Dr. Ani Yangchen, Kunzang Angmo
From AUSTRALIA: lew
The Numbers …
| NEW HEARING AID FITTINGS MARCH 2017 | ||
| AGE GROUP |
MALE |
FEMALE |
| Under 11 years |
2 |
1 |
| 11-21 years |
6 |
1 |
| 22-35 years |
2 |
3 |
| Over35 years |
26 |
17 |
| Refit, Reprogramed & Repairs |
8 |
2 |
| TOTAL |
44 |
24 |
| DISTRICT | CAMP VISITORS under 21 | CAMP VISITORS Over 22 | TOTAL | No.of camp days |
| Lumbini 2016 |
90 |
55 |
145 |
4 |
| Lumbini 2017 |
202 |
141 |
343 |
4 |
| Janakpur 11/12 2016 |
537 |
403 |
940 |
10 |
| Janakpur 03 2017 |
167 |
182 |
349 |
7 |
The People – Their Stories
Mahima Harijan, 10 years old, fell of her bed when she was a baby and has a profound hearing loss in her right ear and severe conductive in her left. She has little speech and goes to school so now with a power aid. She can develop her communication skills and do better at school.
On a lighter note, the village kids were excited to get their first teddy bear.
Dr. Ani Yangchen( from Ladakh) and Saru( from Kathmandu) test a lady after she failed her screening test. The bamboo classroom was fresh and airy and great to work in.
One measure of the success of the school programme is the number of children discovered with serious hearing loss. Kamala’s school visit found three in one school. One of them, Ronak Kumar Mandal, 6 years old, has profound hearing loss since childhood and therefore has no speech. We look forward to seeing an improvement in his communication skills.
And with their new hearing aids, these two guys relived their long lost ability to communicate as a group.
With a new hearing aid dome and hook, Raj Dev (56 yrs),is happy that ongoing maintenance is available as required.
WE ARE NOW CONFIDENT that our three new centres, Lumbini and Janakpur in Nepal and Ladakh in the Himalayas of India can operate independently with no further need to move staff for training.
BIG CHANGE and TWICE THE BENEFITS in our Kathmandu region school program. We visit the schools to physically check the children’s ears and offer or refer for treatment as required. Discussions with teachers will help find students for audiometric testing and fitting of aids. We employed a teacher to complement Keshab’s primary ear care. The roll was to visit schools, present to the classes and talk to the teachers.
NAHOH (Nepal association of the hard of hearing) has for years tried to visit the schools as part of a public awareness, tolerance and acceptance program to better integrate the hearing impaired into mainstream activities. SO… our new teacher will report to and work with NAHOH in a combined program. NAHOH members will also go with our teacher to the schools, where they will be accepted as part of the enhanced program! Note: Keshab also works for NAHOH – 12 years. We find the wages, equipment and aids etc.
Our FACEBOOK page has the energy of our future.
Georgia visited Nepal earlier this year. She is an Audiology student, and with her friends have taken over the Facebook stories. And they look forward to getting involved in some of our tedious activities including sorting, programming and listening checking our aids before they go to Nepal and India.
Keshab, in Kathmandu valley, continues his hearing camps weekly, in schools and citizen centres, usually with the Schechen team. In Feb 2017 they revisited One World One Love, where 191 patients were checked, 90 with wax, 3 with CSOM – Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media – also known as ‘runny ears’! & 1 SNHL –Hearing loss detected in the inner ear (cochlear)
A day’s drive from Kathmandu, in Gorka our team tested senior citizens and fitted hearing aid to Adhikari, who has a bi-lateral severe loss. Two other severe B/L and two Profound losses were fitted
Some entries from our February diary where we were working alongside a Doctor, Nurse and Pharmacist from our Nepal partner Shechen Clinic and Hospice include:
1st Feb 2017 One World, one Love 191 students see above for typical results.
5th Feb 2017 Mum’s creation 141 students
8th Feb 2017 Kirtipur monastery 119 local folk
9th Feb 2017 Kindergarten Manamaiju school 289 students
11th Feb 2017 Old folks had hearing aids fitted
12th Feb 2017 Bagh Bhairab 121 persons
15th Feb 2017` Rarahil school 354 students
And so it continues…
Ladakh, India, we are waiting for the cloths to thaw, clean the windows and start our program. Everything is in place, with training of staff completed this March in Nepal. Lew’s next visit will be there in July, to check their progress. We wish Dr Ani yanchen and Angmo all the very best, as there are no alternatives to their fledgling service. May they go well!
In January 2017, Kamala, the Dhanusha accountant of the CFWA, and organisizes our program in that district, also takes time out to visit the schools, talking to the students and teachers about primary ear care AND looking for problems amongst the children. Three youg people from one school have been fitted as a direct result of one of these visits!
So there we have it.
So in summary…
- All centres now have sufficient staff, training and allocated or borrowed equipment to achieve their local aims.
- We do not envisage any more travelling for our staff for training purposes, unless we can secure sponsors for that specific purpose.
- In Nepal, we have visited the Australian Embassy, with our team from Nepal – NAHOH and NAHOH shall apply for selected small grants for travelling expenses for our Lumbini and Janakpur remote camps
- All westerner travel costs continue to be self -funded
- Our 4wd in Nepal is being used extensively, with Keshab at the wheel!
- Our Primary Ear Care school program in Kathmandu is undertaking a new dimension, is working well in Dhanusha and about to begin in Ladakh!
- We are making good, comfortable and minimum feedback under high power moulds from standard tubing and latest technology ‘speaker in the ear” domes. Our acrylic mould making also continues.
- Service programs are set up wherever we distribute hearing aids.
After seven years….We continue to need your support…and we promise to continually review, streamline and get the best ‘bang for your buck’!
PLEASE Don’t stop sending working hearing aids JOIN US ON Facebook!
CHEERS, lew and the team, all of you!
