This remains our ‘Signature Program’ and the platform from which all our other support programs have grown as the children responded to the ‘gift of sound’.

THE HISTORY

From a Pilot Program involving three hearing impaired children selected from Semara Putra Orphanage in Klungkung, regional Bali, we set in motion the processes for full audiology testing and assessments, supply and fitting of BTE hearing devices and a preliminary course of speech therapy and learning.

There were many challenges encountered in those early stages but we were heartened by the very genuine desire by the local audiologist and carers who worked with us at that time to make our program the success it has become.

The Pilot Program including the three original children and funded by the founders and friends of Bikabele, quickly established the protocols and costs involved in establishing a sustainable long term Hearing Aid Program, and, through an initial campaign of fundraising to widen its scope, found tremendous support for the concept of Individual Child Sponsorships

The result is the creation of a unique, first of its kind, Hearing Aid Program designed specifically for orphan and disadvantaged children in the rural areas of Indonesia.

THE PROGRAM

Each child in this program is sponsored by a family, group, or organisation to cover the costs of testing and the supply and fitting of two BTE Hearing Aids which is followed up with an extensive Speech Therapy phase which will last at least 12 months.

The Speech Therapy is vital to ensure that, not only the child, but also the carer / guardian or teacher of the child, adapt well together with the child's new ability to hear and in order to teach the child as best possible to develop their speech skills to a stage where they can competently put sentences together.

From there, these children can then look forward to a far more positive future with the aim to go onto standard schooling and acquire skills to eventually seek employment, something well beyond their grasp without the benefits of this sponsorship.