Sylvia is a five year-old girl living in Zambia, Africa.
“Her father brought her to us and said she wasn’t speaking and they thought she couldn’t hear,” said Dr. Kamal Elliot, audiologist at A & E Audiology Center in Lancaster County.
After an exam, doctors determined the then three year-old girl had severe hearing loss.
Sylvia was fitted with a pair of pink hearing aids, donated by a family in Lancaster County.
“Her face just lit up when she could hear and when she heard her own voice, it was unbelievable,” said Dr. Elliot.
Sylvia is just one of thousands of people in Zambia who suffers from hearing loss.
“There’s I think around 16 million people and one audiologist, so the need is tremendous.”
With Sylvia’s hearing comes hope, and Dr. Elliot wants to give the gift of hearing to others in Sylvia’s shoes.
She’s packing up her equipment for the third time, and bringing resources from her own practice, and donations from the community, like Sylvia’s pink hearing aids, to the other side of the world to help.
“If you give somebody that ability to hear, it really does raise them up and give them the ability to connect and get an education and lift themselves out of the situation they are in,” said Dr. Elliot.
She and a team of audiologists from all across the country will head to Zambia on Thursday, hundreds of pairs of hearing aids packed in their bags, ready to make a change.
“If we help even one person, then it was all worth it.”
If you have a pair of gently-used hearing aids or would like to make a monetary donation to the cause, you can drop it off or mail it to one of A & E Audiology's three locations.
Dr. Elliot goes on mission trips like this one frequently, and she says every little bit can help.
LITITZ OFFICE
235 Bloomfield Drive
Suite 111
Lititz, PA 17543
WILLOW STREET OFFICE
226 Willow Valley Lakes Drive
Suite D
Willow Street, PA 17584
LANCASTER OFFICE
2160 Noll Drive
Suite 100
Lancaster, PA 17603