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“Oír Para Vivir”, a Dominican non-profit association, founded just last year with the mission to help integrate deaf children into the “hearing world”, recently held a ceremony to give hearing aids to the first 3 children being sponsored by the foundation.
The ceremony was held on March 18th, on the premises of the Santa Rosa Institute for the Deaf, in Santo Domingo, when the hearing aids were presented to their new owners.
Taking part in the ceremony was Casa de Campo villa owners Corinne and Sergio Gobbi, who sponsored Karen, by donating a pair of headphones, as well as helping her family cover the cost of speech therapy.
And while the 3 hearing aids may seem like a small achievement, it is important to note that these special headphones are expensive (between US$1,200 and US$1,500). But also that the headset itself is not everything, each child must be given training to use the device, while the cost of maintenance and the ongoing process of education and speech therapy must also be paid for.
“In ‘Oír Para Vivir’ we provide the opportunity for children with hearing impairments to learn both oral language and sign language, through the donation of hearing aids. This process is long and complex, and we, as a foundation, will accompany deaf children during their development and learning process; as well as support the families.” Mr. Nathanaël told Casa de Campo Living.
It all started with Nayely, the daughter of Nathanaël Le Herisse, president of the foundation. Nayely is deaf and being a French national, meant that her father Nathanaël has access to an insurance that covers all expenses (hearing aids, cochlear implant, speech therapy, etc.) which has helped his daughter cope with her disability.
Living in the Dominican Republic, Nathanaël came into contact with the Deaf Community here and realised that very few deaf people have access to the necessary technology, such as hearing aids and implants, something which all European boys and girls have. This situation motivated him to try to help these people so that, like his daughter Nayely, they could overcome their disabilities.
“My daughter is our inspiration for this project. Her story is where the foundation was born from.” Says Nathaël.
In it’s second year, the foundation is planning to celebrate several fundraisering events and raise public awareness.
To learn how to donate and help the foundation visit: http://www.oirparavivir.com/fr/
Oír para vivir
Location: #358 Francisco Prats Ramirez St., Santo Domingo
Contact: (809) 819-9607, info@oirparavivir.com,
Twitter: @oirparavivir
Instagram: @oirparavivir
Facebook: Oír Para Vivir