It provided specialist equipment, training and support to some of the poorest countries of the world, where people with the 'hidden disability' of deafness may otherwise not receive the help they need.
[1] Sound Seekers, formerly known as The Commonwealth Society for the Deaf, sprang from humble beginnings in 1959, initiated by Lady Templer (Edith Margery (Peggie) Davie),[2] the wife of Gerald Templer the Governor of Malaya (now Malaysia), whose time there inspired her to assemble a group of ENT surgeons, audiologists, and educators of the deaf.
Sound Seekers' partnership with the UCL Ear Institute will allow the University of Nairobi to benefit from their expertise, distance learning and connections to industry.
Sound Seekers have also aided the set up of a teleaudiology service in Malawi, with the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital now able to benefit from qualified audiologists in Lilongwe and Zambia, receiving improve patient management and technical support.
In partnership with Holy Spirit Hospital and Loreto Clinic in Makeni, this project allows the screening and identifying of children particularly at risk of developing hearing loss, meaning they can receive the required medication and prevent delay to their education.
As well as sponsoring a Zambian clinical officer to study the Clinical Audiology and Public Health Ontology diploma at the University of Nairobi, Sound Seekers also provided a HARK vehicle for usage in outreach programs, as well as helped set up a teleaudiology link between Mwamba with his team in Ndola and to Malawi from his base in Lusaka.