The gift of hearing

The World health organisation (WHO) has marked today (3/3) as the international day for ear and hearing care. As part of the days events there was a forum where individuals could share their stories and experiences about deafness. One thing is for certain, hearing is a gift not to be taken for granted. Imagine what life would be like with reduced / no hearing. The inability to hear can be very frustrating as most sufferers shared. Here's a video on a day in the life of deaf culture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0rDLb4qrU8&feature=related

Some people are born deaf, others become deaf as a side effect of other diseases such as cytomegalovirus, meningitis, measles and mumps  while others loose their hearing just from negligence. Don't fall victim to the latter. When your child has pain in the ear or discharge from the ear, see your doctor as it might be an ear infection. When detected early, ear infection can be treated with simple affordable medication. Parents remember that slapping your child across the face can damage the ear drum and encourage infections.http://www.who.int/features/qa/81/en/index.html

Your ear is precious and hearing although taken so lightly can have serious consequences on your lifestyle. It affects your confidence, job, family, friendship and integration in the community. Help yourself where you can and prevent ear infection by not inserting anything into the ear i.e pencils, car keys, hair pins and cotton buds. Adults who develop hearing loss be it partially or fully are usually too embarrassed to tell anyone about it and so suffer in silence especially for fear of losing their job.


Don't be the reason for a deaf victims insecurity. There should be more education about hearing disabilities and more provision needs to be made to allow sufferers feel more integrated in community. In the meantime, remember not to yell but to speak clearly and don't fall victim to negligence. Look after your ear!.