[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 611

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

Messages In This Digest (1 Message) 
  1. 1235: Rotarian audiologist hears the needs of South African deaf From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Message 
  1. 1235: Rotarian audiologist hears the needs of South African deaf 
  Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
  Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:10 pm (PST) 
  Rotarian audiologist hears the needs of South African deaf school

  By Maureen Vaught

  Rotarian and audiologist Marie Heintzman knows firsthand the 
  benefits of carrying out multiple projects at the same time.

  In January, Heintzman, then president of the Rotary Club of Oakville-
  West, Ontario, Canada, accompanied three Rotarians to Tzaneen, South 
  Africa, to hand over a water purification system for 26 rural 
  villages. But before she left, she contacted Gwenn van Schalkwyk, 
  past president of the Rotary Club of Tzaneen, to ask about any 
  hearing needs in her area.

  "Gwenn replied that there was a school for the deaf with 208 
  students, ages 6-14. And she added, `They've never had a visit from 
  an audiologist!'" says Heintzman, who is director and audiologist of 
  Hearing Solutions and the Child Development Centre of Oakville.

  She spent two mornings at the Yingisani School for the Deaf testing 
  the hearing of 22 newly enrolled students. Of those, she found that 
  four children had only moderate hearing losses and that with hearing 
  aids and speech therapy they could progress from sign language to 
  speech.

  "When the children were first fitted with hearing aids, their eyes 
  opened wide in amazement," Heintzman says, adding that one eight-
  year-old boy shrieked excitedly when he heard the school's speech-
  language pathologist and school principal, July Nyambi, talking to 
  him.

  To ensure that students are correctly diagnosed and treated in the 
  future, Heintzman taught Nyambi how to test the children's hearing. 
  She also donated audiology equipment and supplies that she had 
  collected in Canada. 

  Heintzman spent the rest of her time in Africa visiting and 
  assessing future sites for water projects, including one in Accra, 
  Ghana. But before she left, she managed to squeeze in one more 
  charitable act. Working with the spouses of members of the Rotary 
  Club of Johannesburg, Heintzman secured enough metal mugs for all of 
  the Yingisani students to enjoy tea time together.

  "This made my stay complete," Heintzman says. 

  Source: October 2006 issue of Rotary World
  Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary 
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