BY BAYANDA NKATHA
Hear to Aid, an organization run by a dedicated couple, Nick and Jenny Pedersen, extended free medical services to children with hearing impairments and other ear conditions this week.
The outreach program, which began in Harare, expanded to Bulawayo, Hwange, and Victoria Falls over 10 days, targeting children aged 0-18.
The audiologist couple, working with partners Love for Africa and Great Nordic Danish, provided free consultations, testing, and treatment.
Those found to require hearing aids will receive them in the next round of the program.
The aim is to give hope to children affected by ear infections or deafness, ensuring their growth and education are not impacted.
“The programme has been running for many years in Zimbabwe as we are hoping to help these children who have no access to services. We are attending to those with ear infections and permanent hearing loss,” said Pedersen. “We were doing this in partnership with Nordic Danish from Demark and Love for Africa. We have seen hundreds of kids during this outreach.”
Pedersen expressed gratitude to Love for Africa for their instrumental support in helping Hear to Ear register and scale up operations. “We are grateful to Love for Africa who have been instrumental in helping us to register and scale up our operations as a fully-fledged organisation,” he said.
Fagness Phiri brought her son Denzel, who suffers from hearing problems and delayed speech, saying, “Our biggest challenge is the lack of teachers who are trained to teach someone with such a condition.”
Shyleen Mbewe sought help for her two-year-old son Aldrin, who has been experiencing ear discharge since birth. “It started when he was young, and now he will be turning three years in September. So today I brought him here, and they said the kind of medicine he needs is not available, hence they wrote me a prescription. I really appreciate this service and hope my child will be healed,” Mbewe said.
Dozens of Victoria Falls residents took advantage of the outreach program, seeking help for their children’s hearing and ear-related issues.