What TFWA Care did for... Audition Solidarité

Imagine a world without sound. The ability to hear is sometimes taken for granted. Hearing is an ingrained part of life but for those born with hearing disability, it is an invisible debilitating reality that totally isolates them from others. Deafness or loss of hearing can cause a huge blow to a person’s confidence and take away their independence.

Deafness or the effects of hearing loss are wide ranging. In children and babies, it can seriously hamper their cognitive development and the basic ability to speak and comprehend. For adults with hearing problems, they can find it difficult to get an education, work in certain jobs and participate in social activities.

A little over a decade ago in a small village of Yzosse in the South West region of France, three friends named Christine who is an audiologist, and musicians Carole and Odile wondered how their lives would be if they could not hear the sound of their tunes nor simply talk. Life must be dark and dreary without sound or the ability to interact. A year later, Audition Solidarité was created to help combat loss of hearing or aid to those who were born with the disability.

Audition Solidarité is a French nonprofit association established in 2008. The Association’s core mission is to help children in disadvantaged countries and provide them with auditory care such as hearing aids. Audition Solidarité embarks on several missions each year where auditory care is much needed. With programs that started in France, Audition Solidarite has extended their outreach and created programs in African, Asian and Latin American countries among the poorest villages and towns normally overlooked and do not have the sources nor the health care to help them combat hearing disability.

Project 2020

TFWA Care and Audition Solidarité teamed up once again this year. After its successful mission in the Dominican Republic in 2019, TFWA Care provided financial aid to Audition Solidarité’s annual project of providing hearing aids and training to the deaf and hearing impaired who are seen as a social outcast in this Caribbean island nation.

Despite the travel restrictions posed by the Covid19 pandemic this year, Audition Solidarité was able to provide:

Shipment of new and used hearing aids with an increase of 31% compared to last year
Shipment of follow-up patient forms to keep track of data and enhance quality of services
Shipment of pedagogical materials on speech therapy
Coaching of local partner Oir Para Vivir to continue the therapy of last year’s recipients

Project in 2019

TFWA Care provided financial aid to Audition Solidarié on their 10 days mission to the Dominican Republic. Audition Solidarité organized a mission and provided hearing aids and training to seven schools for deaf children in order to empower them. The TFWA Care grant also covered the cost to collect and restore old hearing aids and the purchase of seven audiometers.

Hearing is critical to a child’s brain development and is essential for their ability to communicate and go to school. With early intervention, we can help these kids address and monitor their hearing loss to ensures better mental health, educational attainment and access to jobs in the future.

What TFWA Care did for... Audition Solidarité

Project 2020

Project in 2019

Audition Solidarité in the Dominican Republic