April 30, 2019 – According to the World Health Organization, 466 million people around the world suffer from disabling hearing loss. This can result in functional, social, emotional, and even economic impacts on entire communities, undermining peacebuilding and development initiatives in fragile, post-conflict areas. To help address this issue, trained staff and youth peacemakers from WPDI launched a campaign to treat people with hearing-related healthcare needs in the rural Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda, which reached nearly 900 people in the past month.
This initiative is part of our long-term partnership with the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Since 2015, WPDI has provided, with their support, healthcare services to people with hearing impairments. WPDI youths and staff have been trained and certified by Starkey’s experts as technicians so that they can provide patients with services ranging from autoscopy to hearing aid battery replacements. In order to best ensure that the program is accessible to as many people as possible, our youth peacemakers continually advertise it while they conduct community dialogues, participate in radio talk shows, and engage in other public activities. Additionally, our Community Learning Centers in the Gulu district and at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement act as staging points for treating patients on a regular basis. These activities have become so well-tuned that we were able to treat almost 900 people in only a 12-day period.
Unquestionably, this has had a very real impact on the lives of many in northern Uganda. Dission, a 75-year-old man from the Kitgum district, told us that “Before my hearing was restored, everyone had to repeat what was said to me loudly and that was frustrating. So, many people would skip conversations with me. However, after I received my hearing aid, I cannot explain the joy and excitement that filled my heart as soon as I was called ‘Papa’. I will forever be grateful for the miracle of hearing.” For Betty, a 48-year-old woman from the Alebtong district, receiving a hearing aid meant a “turning point” because “I was able to complete and get appointed to a normal school. I improved my teaching ability and am currently a tutor at a number of vocational institutions. This has fulfilled all my dreams.”
Throughout the rest of the year, WPDI plans to continue expanding outreach activities to the eight districts and 15 counties of the entire Acholi Sub-Region. Our goal is to reach even more patients and continue changing lives in northern Uganda.