In its annual 2012/13 fiscal year report, the Hear the World Foundation said that it had supported 18 projects in 15 countries through providing hearing aids, FM systems, and financial aid totaling more than $732,000.
Eleven new partnerships were established and the cooperation was extended with five existing partners. Additionally, Hear the World has now formed a new partnership with VARTA Microbattery, which will enable it to provide free hearing aid batteries from VARTA’s power one brand.
The Hear the World Foundation was established by the Sonova Group. Through it, Sonova says it is fulfilling its social responsibility to help those who cannot afford or do not have access to hearing health care facilities in their home countries.
“A declared focus of our commitment is on providing hearing health care for children with hearing loss. After all, they are the people we can create better future prospects for by offering them hearing aids along with audiological and medical treatment,” explained Lukas Braunschweiler, president of the Hear the World Foundation and CEO of Sonova. Hearing aids not only enable these children to communicate and integrate into society, he said, but they also help them follow lessons in school more easily so they can realize their full learning potential.
“With our commitment, we are giving children affected by hearing loss, particularly those in developing countries, the chance of a brighter future,” continued Braunschweiler.
Hear the World offers aid in places where families do not have any access to audiological care for their children due to geographical, social, or financial reasons. Its work also focuses on areas such as training for audiologists, prevention, and programs designed to provide information for parents.
Out of the multitude of applications it received for 2012, the Hear the World Foundation selected 11 new projects in 11 countries to support through financial aid and providing hearing solutions. One of the new projects is in Panama, where local specialists are being offered training, and children and young people are being provided with hearing aids fitted by experts. Another initiative being supported by the foundation is the program for parents run by the American organization “Hands & Voices,” which aims to actively involve parents of children with hearing loss in improving their children’s speech development.
Hear the World also extended its cooperation with five of its existing project partners, which include projects in Malawi, Canada, and Armenia. The ongoing projects provide the opportunity to build on an established foundation and create a strong network of medical care providers.
Hear the World’s full 2013 Activity Report is available online at: http://www.hear-the-world.com/en/how-we-help/activity-report.html
SOURCE: The Hear the World Foundation
