Charity Partners: Sean & Natasha Kinsella working in Uganda
Hearing Aid Recycling were delighted to receive an out of the blue email from Sean Kinsella of the African Bible University. Here he is with his wife Natasha. Anyone else (mis)spend their youth in Oxford? If so, you’ll recognise the (in)famous ‘Shark House’ in the image with Sean & Natasha. We could write a whole article just about ‘The Shark’. Although others have beaten us to it. We think ‘The Shark’ featured form time to time on Inspector Morse and possibly on the recent Down Cemetery Road. The latest psychological thriller written by Mick Heron for Apple TV. Hot on the heels of the very successful Slow Horses with Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden. Hearing Aid Recycling Co-Founder Zoe is off to the theatre soon to see Jack Lowden in The Fifth Step. We’ve meandered off-course! If you have a few spare minutes you can read more about ‘The Shark’ here. However, for now, we’d like to tell you a bit more about our collaboration with Sean and Natasha working in Uganda.
An image really can speak a thousand words!
Here’s Shakira an 11 year old girl form Uganda. Sean’s first email was to ask Hearing Aid Recycling if we might be able to help Shakira with some donated hearing aids. Here’s an excerpt from Sean’s first email:
“I am a voluntary worker in Uganda, and recently was asked by a resident there, if I could help ner niece by finding her a second-hand set of hearing aids. I see you recycle hearing aids for just such a person, and wondered if you would be willing to help her out.
Her name is Shakirah, and she is 10 years old. I have attached her test results and a photograph of her to play on your heart strings! Please help if you can.”
Sean hit just the right note and played perfectly on our heart strings!
Hearing Aid Recycling’s Zöe at 11!
I think we can safely say Shakira looks a lot smarter! Co-founder Zöe began to lose her hearing at around this age. By 14 it had begun to have a profound effect on her. Her studies had begun to suffer. She was experiencing the anxiety and social isolation so often associated with hearing loss. Zöe didn’t begin to wear hearing aids until she was 17. Something she feels had a negative impact on her life. Being able to help people like Shakira was one of the key motivating factors in founding Hearing Aid Recycling with Gordon McIntyre.
Helping Shakira (and many others) in Uganda – here’s how we did it!
In order to help Shakira with some donated hearing aids from Hearing Aid Recycling she first needed to have a hearing test like so:
Having a hearing test:
Hearing aid programming:
Here’s Shakira’s audiologist connecting the hearing aids to the Phonak software in oder to tailor them as closely as possible for Shakira.
Fiddly fitting but it’s worth it:
Shakira taking a few moments to think about how they sound:
It’s a thumbs up and off to a better hearing future for Shakira:
We couldn’t do it with out you and…
It was really wonderful to receive Sean’s initial email and his self-deprecating recognition that he was deliberately trying to play the heart string card made us smile. It was great to meet Sean (on a blustery street in Cambridge). it was lovely to hear of all the amazing work he and Natasha are doing in Uganda to help young people like Shakira. However, it was even better to be able to help many others too. Sean and Natasha very kindly took Shakira’s hearing aid to her. They also took another 250 donated Phonak hearing aids from Hearing Aid Recycling to help many others!
Hearing aids and Pizza!
Anyone else remember the ‘Daddy or chips’ McCain’s advert from the 90’s. Typing ‘hearing aids and pizza’ made us think about it. Fortunately, thanks to everyone who helps us by donating no longer needed hearing aids Shakira won’t have to choose! It’s a hearing aids and pizza day.
Here’s a short film all about Shakira and her journey to better hearing with Hearing Aid Recycling:
THANK YOU!!
THANK YOU for reading this and thank you for helping us!!
We feel so passionately about Hearing Aid Recycling and all it can do to ‘help others hear’ around the world. It’s so simple to donate hearing aids for hearing aid recycling by any of the following ways:
Or get in touch with us and we’ll help you!
Again, if you have time, do please include a picture and note. We’ll pop our thanks and remembrance in the gallery!! We also love to let you know that they have arrived safely. Do please pop your contact details in too and we’ll do just that!https://youtu.be/i92pqiyeWfQ