Maria's Story

This is Maria, a little ten-year girl in the Ohangwena district of northern Namibia. She was brought along to meet the HARK! team by her grandmother, who explained that Maria had been ill and had 'fallen asleep'. She had subsequently been in a coma for some weeks, evidently suffering from meningitis. When she awoke she was in many ways her old playful self - but she had become deaf. The HARK! team were able to carry out a hearing assessment, and reached the conclusion that she would benefit from a hearing aid. Both the girl and her granny were shown how to fit and look-after the aid.

Quetha's Story

This is Quetha, from a small mountain village called Dilly Dilly, in the Quthing District of Lesotho. Aged eighteen, he has only spent two weeks at school in his life, as his teachers sent him home because he couldn't follow the lessons. When our HARK mobile clinic arrived in Dilly Dilly for the first time, in June 2004, his grandfather brought him along to see if there was a problem with his ears. He was quickly assessed by Tlaleng, who found that his hearing was very poor, but that he could be helped with a hearing aid. So, his life in the hearing world is about to begin. The arrival of HARK Lesotho may have come too late to allow him to benefit from a childhood enriched by education, but for many of the other, younger children the HARK team examined in Dilly Dilly that day, help has arrived just in time.

If you want to help children like Maria or Quetha click here to find out how you can