ALL EARS Newsletter No. 19—2017

1

President’s Piece In March 2017, Donna was already on her second trip to Fiji for

the year. She needs volunteers for the next one and more to

come. We will also be looking for volunteers for Papua New

Guinea, and by years end, we need someone who has God’s

calling to live in Malawi in Africa for a year (or more). Is God

speaking to you? Go to Africa. Go to Africa. Go to Africa.

OK, so if that’s not an option, how about you join me in Miami in October for the 8th

Annual Coalition for Global Hearing Health (CGHH) Conference 12-14 October

2017 University of Miami Coral Gables, Florida, USA? No sacrifice in comfort there.

You can sign up for my ‘Earmould manufacturing’ workshop or some of the other

workshops and hear people share the passion of their work in vastly differing

audiology projects around the world. Donna Carkeet, Peter Bartlett and I are

members of three Steering Committees within the CGHH: Donna in Education and

Training, Peter in Global Standard of Care and I am on the Technical Committee. The

World Health Organisation is looking to CGHH as a Peak Body to represent audiology

for developing countries, which means we have the opportunity to influence and set

standards in best practice in the developing world.

Back home we will hold a Special General Meeting after the Annual General Meeting

on 29th of April in Melbourne to vote on amendments to the Rules (previously

known as the Constitution) so that we can progress toward becoming a Public

Benevolent Institution (PBI) which will allow growth for the future.

We are also gearing up to launch our hearing aid donation boxes so let us know if

you want to trial one in your clinic.

Help us make 2017 an exceptional year.

Blessings

David Pither, President, EARS Inc.

EARS Inc. is an Australian, not-for-profit association dedicated to

reducing the incidence and impact of hearing impairment through training and equipping local individuals and agencies in developing countries.

We serve and empower people, irrespective of nationality, race, gender or religion, while showing the love of Jesus through our words and actions.

Our vision is for deaf and hearing impaired people in developing

countries to have access to the hearing services they need to help them to

reach their potential.

School vocational program in Malawi

With the help of the generous people of

her church at St Bartholomew Anglican

Church in Crookwell, Marg Anderson

spent nearly three weeks with Peter and

Rebecca Bartlett in April 2016.

Since then Marg has been raising money

to support a vocational program in a

small school for hearing impaired

children in Malawi. God has graciously

provided a local contact in the form of

Liz Ottoway, a retired English nurse who

regularly visits the school. Liz shares

Marg’s vision for the children to learn

skills to help the school become self-

sufficient now, and enable the children

to make a living when they leave school.

Liz has used funds Marg has raised to

repair the sewing machines and

purchase material. As well as learning to

sew, the children have made beautiful

beaded jug covers and knitted scarves.

Jacob, one of the teachers, has started a

poultry project so the children can learn

how to raise chickens and also “to enable

the kids to taste meat” (a rare delicacy in

Malawi). The chicks are kept warm with

a cleverly improvised heating system

using a charcoal burner.

Recently Jacob wrote to Marg: “This has

been possible due to the money you sent

us. The project seems to bear fruit. This

will assist the school so much. We are

thankful for the charity to the kids and

school.”

If you believe in the power of prayer,

please pray for the children and their

dedicated teachers.

Help us raise funds for EARS Inc. by

buying an Entertainment Membership

from EARS. For as little as $60, you'll

receive hundreds of valuable offers for

everything you love to do, and 20% of

every membership sold contributes to

EARS. To purchase membership through

Helen Bartlett, go to

www.entertainmentbook.com.au/

orderbooks/1836w36.

Book Membership has a small added

cost for postage. Digital Membership

can be easily organised online.

Entertainment Book

fundraiser

No. 19, 2017 ALL EARS

2

Farewell to Malawi

After living in Malawi and representing EARS Inc. for more than six years, the

Bartlett family last year, returning to their home in Ballarat in Victoria.

Having moved to Lilongwe to be missionaries with African Bible Colleges (ABC) in

August 2010, Peter and Bec established the first comprehensive audiology service and

custom-built clinic in Malawi, coordinated the development of the first audiology

training program, and facilitated outreach projects throughout the central and

northern regions. Ministering in other ways through various ABC programs and their

local church community, Peter and Rebecca and their daughters Jessica, Brianna and

Elouise had an impact in Malawi that was far-reaching.

For example, the HARK vehicle donated by Sound Seekers UK and audiotrailer

donated by Hear The World (HTW) Foundation allowed the ABC audiology team to

visit fifteen different locations in the last year to complete 1,684 patient

appointments, 169 of these to fit hearing aids. None of the patients in these villages,

hospitals and Schools for the Deaf would otherwise have access to audiology services.

Three of the four Malawians sent to Manchester successfully completed the course

work and returned in September - the first Malawian audiologists. The audiology

assistants at the ABC Hearing Clinic and Training Centre continue to attend to

hundreds of patients every month, with more actually seen on outreach than in the

clinic.

After such a long period of service on the mission field, it is never easy to say

goodbye. However, the arrival of UK audiologist Helen Brough in September, and

Australian audiologist Lois Grant with her husband Dr Ian Grant in October, means the

Bartletts know that their pioneering work is in very safe hands.

“Each of our three key elements of the EARS Inc. model - services, training and

outreach - continue to be developed, with the newborn hearing screening program

being initiated, the BSc audiology curriculum finally being officially approved, and new

outreach partners being added all the time,” said Peter. “They have taken the work to

a whole new level, and I am thrilled to know that they are bringing a greater sense of

professionalism and networking as they build on our foundation.”

Bec is going to Malawi in May to support Helen while Lois is back in Australia for the

birth of a grandchild, and Peter expects to visit ABC toward the end of the year.

Carrying on the work From Helen Brough, Audiologist, Malawi

The ABC hearing clinic work continues

to be challenging and fun. Coming up in

the next month we are running a two-

day intensive training programme for

nurses who do industrial hearing

screening at a sugar factory, we have a

three-day outreach to Kasungu, and

then the Arizona State University

students arrive for their annual Malawi

adventure, which will involve

outreaches in four different locations

over eight days. Lots of planning to be

done!

The newborn hearing screening pilot

programme is developing into quite a

major project, with a number of babies

requiring specialist testing. This testing

is very technically demanding, and it

isn’t helped by our frequent power

cuts. We have yet to diagnose any baby

with a hearing loss, partly due to the

relatively small number of babies we

have so far screened, and partly

because many families do not bring

their babies for the follow-up

appointments we arrange for them. The

staff are keen to gain the complex skills

required for diagnosing infants, and so

we persevere.

I have a particular interest in working

with people with learning disabilities,

and am pleased that we are

strengthening links with the Children of

the Blessings Trust which does amazing

work with children with multiple

disabilities.

(Continued on page 3)

Audiology Revolution in Malawi

Kamuzu and Alinane doing screening OAE's in the ABC maternity ward as part of the

newborn hearing screening program.

Peter Bartlett (5th from L), Helen Brough (7th from L) and Lois Grant (next to Helen) with current and past audiology students. The ABC clinic is in the background.

No. 19, 2017 ALL EARS

3

Lois has a particular interest in Early Intervention, supporting young hearing aid users in language development. She is currently

training two staff members in this, and it seems to be going very well.

I have been thinking this week of the ways of life here that would seem so strange in the UK.

Whenever you go out in the evening, you have to remember to put bugspray on your feet. Of course you do. No evening is

complete without the scent of ‘eau d’afrique’, as a friend calls it.

Today at the clinic we had a power cut and the back-up generator failed, so we ended up seeing a dizzy patient in the waiting

room. Then a child came in needing attention, so he was seen in our tech room (the only other room with natural light). Then

we had an important guest of the college come in, disturbing my consultation again, requiring a guided tour which I performed

using my otoscope (light to look in people’s ears) as a torch. Showing round a distinguished guest in the dark is run-of-the-mill

to us now. Patients generally seem remarkably unperturbed when the power goes out.

All in all I continue to be fascinated by the work here, with the endless challenges of complex patients, limited testing facilities

and an appointment system that’s only about 50% functional because many patients have no way of knowing what time it is.

(Continued from page 2)

By Dr Donna Carkeet, EARS Inc. audiologist and board member

For many children in Fiji’s special schools there is an incomplete diagnosis and only

partial understanding of the child’s difficulties. We were told that some children have

“been assessed”, but discovered this was usually done by a visiting team who could

only look in the children’s ears, not actually test their hearing.

EARS Inc. has been partnering with the Frank Hilton Organisation

(www.frankhilton.org.fj) to increase audiological services to children in Fiji. The

organisation’s goal is for effective and quality education for children with disabilities.

They have developed a multidisciplinary team to assist with the diagnosis and

rehabilitation of children in the schools.

As a part of this program, we have been training a few of their staff as well as

building up the skills of the local audiometrist Sevanaia Ratumaitavuki (note:

Sevanaia was trained by Donna in the Dominican Republic). We have currently fitted

over 20 children at the Hilton Special School and the Hilton Early Intervention Centre.

We have also been developing the knowledge of local professional and government

ministries. Recently we had the opportunity, with approval of the Ministry for

Education, to take our team from the Frank Hilton Organisation into other special

schools not under the organisation’s banner. We want to know how many children in

these schools require hearing aids and commence hearing aid fittings for these

children.

One school we attended was Gospel School for the Deaf. They have 58 hearing

impaired students, most of whom have never have had their hearing assessed. It was

great to see the newly-trained local team able to test children in the field and gain

valuable experience.

We are hoping to continue these screenings in all special schools on the main island

and I plan at least two more visits in 2017. Why not volunteer to come along?

Hearing screening program in Fiji Trivia in Tassie

By Gill Baker, Audiologist, Tasmania

How do you put the "fun" into

FUNdraising? Invite around 60

Tasmanians to attend a trivia event and

invite them to bring their own food,

wine and puns! In September 2016 a

small group of friends and I ran a

fundraising trivia night in our local area.

It went off with true Tassie style - both

stylish and proudly tacky! People

brought their own amazing Tassie

cheeses, wine and beer to share as well

as setting up their own "punny" (ie.

funny) themed teams: "Agatha

Quiztie" (Agatha Christie, 1930's

inspired), "We thought it was a

disco" (disco style), and "We are the

champions" (sporting theme with

general rowdiness). It was ridiculous,

informative and most of all fun.

Using materials provided by EARS, we

gave a short presentation about how

EARS sets up sustainable programs

around the world to benefit people

who are deaf or hard of hearing. Using

donated goods, there were five gift

hampers on silent auction as well as

custom made jewellery for sale. We

were able to raise over $1200 to

support EARs internationally and

people left better informed about

EARS, and how significant hearing loss

can be for people living in poverty. I

actually hate trivia, am terribly

disorganised, and have 2-year-old twins

- so if I can do it and have fun, so can

you! Just contact EARS for their Trivia

Quiz Kit to start planning your own

trivia night. Donna assessing a child’s hearing at a Fijian special school.

Fijian audiometrist Sevanaia is involved in the new program.

No. 19, 2017 ALL EARS

4

Help us help people hear If you’d like to help us achieve our mission...

• Become a member of EARS. See our website for membership forms.

• Donate money. Tax-deductible donations can be made through the GiveNow link on the Donate page on our website. Maybe consider a bequest to EARS.

• Donate audiological equipment and hearing aids (second hand is fine).

• Volunteer. We need hearing professionals to provide training and hearing services overseas. Technicians are also needed to check and calibrate equipment.

• Join our prayer support team. Contact our coordinator Jim Thompson: jimmthompson80@gmail.com.

E: admin@earsinc.org

W: www.earsinc.org

T: +61 (0) 3 9654 5511—David Pither, President

A: Suite 302, 220 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia

Keep in touch with latest happenings by becoming a ‘friend’ on the EARS Inc.

Facebook page.

EARS Inc. Volunteer Opportunities

Urgent Need in Fiji

Donna needs volunteers over the next few months to assist

with supervision of hearing screening at Fijian schools,

particularly for children within special education units. The

project also includes training teachers and parents at each

school.

Tele-Audiology Support

Donna needs experienced audiologists who would be able

to assist with supervision of ABR appointments via tele-

audiology. Ideally we would like someone who could

commit a couple of hours every Wednesday to provide

supervision and support via the Internet. This could be

during the morning session when patients are being

assessed or during the afternoon session to assist with

interpretation and reporting of ABR results.

Malawi

ABC Hearing Clinic and Training Centre (ABC HCTC) in

Lilongwe Malawi desperately needs servant-hearted

Christian Audiologists to finish the work that has been

started by Peter and Rebecca Bartlett, and currently

continued by Lois Grant and Helen Brough.

Since its initiation in 2010, this project has gone from

strength to strength, proving it is more about what you’re

willing to do, than what you’ve done before; and that it’s

not always about who you are now, but who you are

willing to become. With the approval in March by the

Medical Council of Malawi of the Bachelor of Science in

Audiology course at ABC, and an extension of clinic and

outreach audiology services, it is now more critical than

ever that we have audiologists in place to further develop

the project. The four year degree program begins in

August 2017, with audiology units beginning in 2018.

There are a lot of costs involved when making a significant

investment like volunteering in a developing country. To

make it easier, if you’ll commit to ABC for at least three

months, we’ll pay your rent. For a commitment greater

than six months, we’ll also pay half your airfare. And a 12-

month commitment comes with a fully paid return airfare,

and the best year of your life. We can also help you raise

funds, and pay a modest stipend if required.

Our donation boxes are finally ready! We would love to see them in waiting rooms of

hearing and medical clinics, maybe churches too.

Contact us if you want to know more.

By Judith Francis, EARS Inc. Volunteer

Co-ordinator

As always, volunteers are welcome most of the time. The project dates below are guidelines to encourage you to participate

and help with planning. If you are interested in volunteering overseas at other times, please let us know and let’s make a

plan! EARS Inc. is also looking for volunteers to assist with organisational tasks and fundraising within Australia. If you would

like to assist but are not able to travel at the moment, please also get in contact. All enquiries to: judy@earsinc.org