wfn.org | Texas team gives hope to Haitian children

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

June 23, 2003 News media contact: Kathy Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.	10-31-71BPI{332}

NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

A UMNS Feature
By J. Richard Peck*

A five-member team from the Texas Annual (regional) Conference recently
brought the gift of hearing to children enrolled in five schools for the deaf
in Haiti.

Gil Hanke, a speech-language pathologist from Nacogdoches, led a team that
tested 360 children and a few adults, and fitted 107 children with hearing
aids donated by people from across the United States.

"For the first time in my 15 years of going to Haiti, I can honestly say that
at least some of the country has gotten better in the last year," Hanke said.
"It still has a long way to go."  

The 2003 team, which visited Haiti June 1-7, consisted of audiologists Frank
Brister, Sally Muhlbach, and Ric Gauthier. Gina Wood, a deaf educator with
signing skills, also accompanied the group. 

On their Sunday arrival, the team members sorted out the materials. "Part of
this task was to estimate the number of hearing aids each school would need,"
Hanke said. "These estimates turned out to be fairly accurate, and we were
able to use all the 107 hearing aids we had brought."

Their first stop was at a school several hours away at St. Marc. "We were
warmly welcomed and set up in the same pattern that would be repeated at the
other schools," Hanke said. "I visually checked their ears and used a
Tympanometer to check the function of their middle ear. Very few of the
children had any middle ear infections or disorders.  Next, Gauthier or
Mulhbach tested each child. This testing was not to see if they were hearing
impaired - we knew that already. We were looking for residual hearing; some
response of at least two frequencies in an ear."

Those with residual hearing were sent to Brister, who put on a hearing aid
and a temporary ear mold. Once the team was sure the children were benefiting
from the hearing aids, Brister and Wood made ear-mold impressions to be taken
back to the United States so custom ear molds could be made. Once the
impressions were made, the children returned to their classes, hearing better
than ever before.

A Haitian woman who traveled with the team on the first day showed up the
second day at a school in Port-au-Prince, the capital. Hanke thanked her for
coming and for helping organize the paperwork for the children.  

"I came to see their eyes; I've never seen anything like it," she told the
team. "I love to watch their eyes when they hear for the first time."  

"Each day was another school; each day another set of blessings," said Hanke.
"In the five schools we visited this year, we tested 360 children and a few
adults. Most of the adults we tested were teachers who work in the same
school where they were taught as children." 

The team left a year's supply of batteries at each of the schools. Eveready
donated the batteries.

"With Gina's signing skills and Ric's language skills (as a Haitian American
who speaks fluent Creole), we were able provide needed information to the
students, parents and teachers about how to care for and get the most use
from their new hearing aids," Hanke reported.  

"The need is so great, and it is clear that the only chance these children
have of having a hearing aid is from this team," Hanke said. "When we leave,
the Haitians make us promise to come back. We know that others make similar
promises, but many never return."

The team leader regards his trips as more than giving hearing aids. "One of
my missionary mentors taught me on my first trip to Haiti that the single
most precious gift you bring is the gift of hope. In Haiti, hope is in very
short supply."

The team members see God's hand and grace in the faces of those whom they
serve, he said. "We also realize how gifted we are, and how gifted those we
serve in Haiti are. It helps sort out what is really important on this
journey of life. All these factors make this annual trip something special in
our lives."  

Units of United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, an Eagle Scout
project, churches, districts and individuals, donated the hearing aids. Hanke
is the U.S. national president of United Methodist Men.

The team will continue to need hearing aids of any kind, style and condition.
Behind-the-ear hearing aids will be reconditioned; all the others will be
sent to the Starkey Foundation, which gives the team credit for future
purchases of reconditioned hearing aids. Gifts given now will be used in
future trips to Haiti.

Hope of Hearing is supported by the Texas Conference of the United Methodist
Church through its Partners in Mission Program. A national affiliate of
United Methodist Men, the team is also supported by three Rotary Clubs in the
Nacogdoches area. Scores of individuals and churches also send funds and
hearing aids. 

To contribute hearing aids for future trips, contact Hanke at 803 Wildwood,
Nacogdoches, TX 75961, or ghanke@sfasu.edu.

# # #

*Peck is the communications coordinator for the Nashville, Tenn.,-based
Commission on United Methodist Men.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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