The Sound Board

 

Impact Report: Rwanda

According to the World Health Organization, more than 360 million people have disabling hearing loss, with the greatest prevalence living in developing countries. Unfortunately, less than three percent of these individuals can afford hearing aids or even have access to the care they need. LSTN's non-profit partner Starkey Hearing Foundation are working tirelessly to change this by building strong partnerships, empowering local teams and expanding their three-phase Community-Based Hearing HealthCare model around the world. We just returned from Rwanda - here's a behind the scenes peek at the impact you're having around the world by being a LSTN supporter!

Kigali

Rwanda is an incredibly beautiful, lush country. Every afternoon while we were there it rained heavily, making the surrounding mountains and landscapes intensely green. One thing in particular we loved about Rwanda's culture is the clothing - everyone was dressed up so beautifully in bright colors and fabrics. It was team LSTN's first time to Rwanda, so we were very excited to see a new country and work with the resilient people of a place that had been through so much in their history. Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda, located in the center of the country with a 1.13 million population.

Over two days, we had around 1,000 patients come to receive the gift of hearing. Despite the downpour, nobody was turned away and we had a successful mission helping the people of our new favorite country.

Some stories from our team:

Charles had traveled for 6 hours from his home to make it to Kigali. He had lost his hearing after suffering from an unknown illness at the age of two. Now, 7 years later, we were able to connect him to sound again!

We fit this 14 year old boy who came to the mission with his mother. She said he had lost his hearing when he was 7 and he hadn't been able to go out by himself since then- as if his life had stopped. As soon as we helped fit him with hearing aids, his mother burst into tears and kept saying she was so thankful he could continue living his life again. 

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