500 receive hearing aid

OVER 500 Dabawenyos received hearing aids from Starkey Hearing Foundation on Tuesday, November 6.

The hearing aids, which featured advance technology, were giving during the foundation's second second Davao Mission on Tuesday, November 6, at Davao City Recreational Center.

"Maraming mommy ang mga umiiyak kasi diba they thought forever na yung child nila na di makakarinig, (Moms were crying because they thought their children will never be able to hear again)," Starkey Hearing Foundation audiologist Kimberly Ong said.

The mission was conducted in collaboration with the City Mayor's Office, City Health Office and Councilor April Marie C. Dayap.

"We provide the hearing aids and the aftercare for the people that have no access in hearing healthcare," Starkey Hearing Foundation Co-founder Tani Austin said in an interview with Sunstar Davao.

Aftercare is a program dedicated for the people who already availed their aid. In this program, the patients will be followed up monthly and be given additional services like counseling, batteries for the hearing aid, and to check if the hearing apparatus is still working.

In the previous year there were more than 1,200 beneficiaries of the first mission of the foundation in the city.

Starkey Hearing Foundation Incorporated is a United States non-profit organization owned by Bill and Tani Austin. Its mission is to give hearing aids to those impaired or who have earing problems in a bid to empower them and to help achieve their potentials. Along with the founders, the Asia-Pacific Regional Team consists of 28 volunteers. (RJC)