Pittwater Life June 2017 Issue
Cafe Society. Exclusive Q&A: Michael Regan. Dummies Guide To The B-Line. Cash Splash.
Cafe Society. Exclusive Q&A: Michael Regan. Dummies Guide To The B-Line. Cash Splash.
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News<br />
Call to<br />
donate used<br />
hearing aids<br />
Mona Vale audiologist Suzi<br />
Marcos will head to Samoa<br />
next month as part of an<br />
Australian team of specialists<br />
helping children with hearing<br />
loss.<br />
There are no audiologists<br />
in Samoa and prior to the<br />
Australian team’s week-long<br />
visits instigated nine years<br />
ago by Attune Hearing’s<br />
Professor Philip Newall and<br />
Cristy Newall, no children living<br />
in the South Pacific island<br />
nation had been fitted with<br />
hearing aids.<br />
This will be Suzi’s first trip<br />
to Samoa but not the first<br />
time she has stepped out<br />
of her comfort zone to help<br />
others.<br />
“In Australia a majority<br />
of us are very lucky to have<br />
easy access to great medical<br />
facilities, but unfortunately<br />
there are many who do not,<br />
which is what also prompted<br />
me to do some work with Indigenous<br />
communities in the<br />
Northern Territory,” she said.<br />
“Samoa has no audiologist<br />
in the country, so I hope I can<br />
fulfil a need and help people<br />
to get back something many of<br />
us take for granted – the ability<br />
to hear and communicate.”<br />
Relying on referrals from<br />
parents, teachers and medical<br />
staff, more than 400 children<br />
in Samoa have had their<br />
hearing assessed, with 250<br />
children fitted with donated<br />
hearing aids by the Australian<br />
team.<br />
“I am hoping to help the<br />
children to hear well enough<br />
to have normal speech and<br />
language development, which<br />
in turn will allow them to<br />
have as normal a life as possible,”<br />
Suzi said.<br />
“This first trip will give me<br />
a personal understanding of<br />
particular needs so I can apply<br />
that to future visits.”<br />
The Australian audiologists’<br />
work in Samoa was<br />
begun by the charity Carabez<br />
Alliance, with support from<br />
The Royal Institute of Deaf<br />
and Blind Children, AusAid<br />
and the local government who<br />
support the SENESE Resource<br />
Centre promoting inclusive<br />
education.<br />
Clinics are held in various<br />
locations, including three<br />
rooms at the local hospital<br />
that have little more than a<br />
desk in each, with all equipment<br />
brought from Australia.<br />
* If you have any working<br />
hearing aids to donate,<br />
contact Attune Hearing Mona<br />
Vale on 9479 5201.<br />
12 JUNE <strong>2017</strong><br />
Celebrating 25 Years
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