Director's Report - August 2004

Technology and Audiology Mission, July 2004

The Dominican Republic continues to keep us busy.  Our trip during the first week of July to Santo Domingo and Boca Chia was fast, furious, yet successful.  Dr. Todd Sauter, Supervisor of Audiology at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Mr. Frank Lepine, Audiology Technician at Clarke School for the Deaf, joined me in this productive training and technology mission.  Our small group landed on the ground running.  We drove directly from the airport to Instituto de Ayuda al Sordo in Santo Domingo.  After introductions and a brief tour of the school, we grabbed a bite to eat, checked into the hotel, and got down to business that night at 5:00pm. Discussing the agenda and plan for the week in Santo Domingo, we knew that in three days we would have a lot of ground to cover before heading off to Boca Chica to meet with more families and children for evaluations and meetings. 

Several objectives at the school in Santo Domingo included:

1)      Meeting with parents interested in our sponsor a child cochlear implant project

2)      Meetings and interviews with families who can afford travel to the United States to receive cochlear implant surgery

3)      Interviews with the parents and children of our Give the Gift of Hearing program

4)      Audiology training given to the personnel at Centro Audiologico Dominicano

5)      Donation of hearing aids to needy children

6)      Hearing aid assessment and repairs

7)      Meetings to discuss acoustic modifications of classrooms at the Institute

8)      Meeting with all education delegates to discuss their Action Plans that directly resulted from the Greater Voice Fall 2003 training, Building a New Generation of DHH children in the Dominican Republic.

Dr. Todd Sauter and Frank Lepine managed to evaluate over 75 children to check hearing aids, modify the settings, shoot ear impressions, and chat about their needs.  Remarkably, they fitted 50 children with donated hearing aids we brought with us on the trip.  Todd also trained audiology staff on ABR, OAE, ear molds, etc.  at the Centro Audiologico Dominicano, a clinic affiliated with Instituto de Ayuda al Sordo, and where we spent over 30 hours in just over 2 days.   Frank trained parents and staff on FM systems, and made many new friends.  I helped to coordinate the agenda, while screening and meeting with parents seeking a donated hearing aid, teachers, and staff. In all the chaos, I had to ensure no person was missed and that over one hundred people were taken care of.   I also met with families interested in cochlear implants, interviewing each family before sending them off the see the Doctor.  Extensive group discussions on cochlear implants and the UMass Memorial Medical Center collaborative also took place.  I also met with staff regarding their action plans and the progress and success of their personal initiatives.

Projects  in the Dominican Republic, 2004-2005

Our Give the Gift of Hearing Project will continue to seek contributors to help countless children who need hearing aids.  I interviewed the parents of our Give the Gift of Hearing program to inquire about the progress of each child, while assessing the child and family?s role in the child?s language development.  As well, adjustments and repairs to hearing aids was necessary. 

To better meet the demand for hearing aids in Santo Domingo, Dr. Todd Sauter and I have discussed the possibility of helping start a hearing aid donor program at the clinic.  Todd has offered to investigate hearing aid vendors and costs associated with starting this program, which is also offered at UMass Memorial Medical Center and many other hospitals in the U. S.

We are also continuing discussions with volunteer contractors and engineers to improve acoustics in classrooms at the Institute, with particular interest in a therapy room (a direct result of our fall training program and project initiated by Sra. Casilda Jimenez, Sub-director of the Institute).  As we move forward in deploying technology, the school recognizes that classroom modifications are necessary to reduce reverberation and ambient noise.

Furthermore, a parent network continues to take hold.  Starting a parent group within the community of Santo Domingo has been a challenge, but a devoted mother and professional seek consultation from Greater Voice to establish a non-profit organization that embraces the social and emotional needs of families.

Regarding Boca Chica, Partners for A Greater continues to seek funds to support the start up of a small school for the deaf to service over 25 families with deaf and hard of hearing children (another result of the fall 2003 training program).  Just two years ago, we identified over 20 families with DHH children whom had no services, education support or technology.  Now, a program called Padres Unidos reaches out to those families.   The program was established by Marina Concepcion and Diorka Nolesce, both participants of our U.S based training program.  they currently direct the services and needs of the children and parents at this school, including home visits, parent training, and speech and language therapy.  During our July mission, we provided 25 audiology evaluations for young children enrolled in their program, and were able to donate 10 hearing aids and molds.  We also provided basic hearing health tips and information on how to care for hearing aids.  This project requires an amount of $10,000 in seed money, and we are waiting for response on two proposals.  Though we have donated ample school supplies, more effort to raise money for this school is necessary.

We continue to discuss our cochlear implant projects with Cochlear Corporation and UMass Memorial Medical Center, as we seek sponsors to help bring one child, as well as one parent and teacher, from Santo Domingo to Massachusetts for surgery, habilitation and training.  Dr. Todd Sauter and Dr. Daniel Lee, from UMass Memorial Medical Center, have been supportive of our Greater Voice missions, and discussion on the logistics and details of this project is underway.  The project requires extensive management effort, and Greater Voice is excited to be working to establish a cochlear implant program at Instituto de Ayuda al Sordo in Santo Domingo with the support from two very well established corporations.   The project is expected to take about one year and combines an exchange of educational and rehabilitation support in both countries.

Collaborating with Others

Several new groups have expressed an interest to work with Partners for A Greater Voice.  Asleighs Student Army, a non-profit organization founded and directly by 17 year-old Ashleigh Crowe, has been working to improve the lives and health of poor people in the northern region of the Dominican Republic.  Her organization has expressed an interest to assist Partners for A Greater in some capacity in 2005.  We are excited about this collaboration. Ashliegh has received national awards and recognition for her accomplishments.

Orlando Vargas, founder of non-profit company Aubrey, coordinated the delivery of donated school supplies to schools in the Dominican Republic.  Schools for the deaf in San Pedro de Macoris, Boca Chica and Santo Domingo received the material in the beginning of July.  As well, three additional audiometers were included in this shipment.  The school supplies and material was a direct result of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  Students enrolled in CCD classes, grades kindergarten through 5, gathered many wonderful things for us to send.  This is the second year they have done this for us!

The AG Bell convention in Anaheim late June was successful, and I met with several people from other countries, including Mexico, India, and Martinique.  I was also able to present on the newest international affiliate of AG Bell, Instituto de Ayuda al Sordo.  Though, I do admit, I did take this opportunity to talk about the Dominican Republic and our work. 

I had an opportunity to meet with individuals interested in helping Greater Voice.  One of these persons, Marlene Bates, currently resides California, but is a native of Martinique.  She has expressed an interest to work with Partners for a Greater Voice, helping to find support for projects in Martinique, and assisting our organization with translation.  I have inquired about her proposal writing skills and participation in training initiatives.  Marlene is a parent of two children, one of whom uses a cochlear implant.  I will be in contact with Marlene over the next several months.  She is a very bright women, and I am happy to have her support us.

The Rotary Foundation received a recent request from the Topsfield, Boxford, Middleton Rotary Club to support a Greater Voice project in San Pedro de Macoris, a poor town in the southern region of the Dominican Republic.  CAES, a school for the deaf seeks audiological support, training in auditory/oral/verbal development, parent training and classroom acoustics.  The Rotary Club of San Pedro de Macoris will support this initiative schedule to take place before July of 2005.

A few notes on our contributors

Our cash raffle this spring was successful, with over 400 tickets sold.  Grand prize was awarded to Chris Sheley from New Hampshire, and two other winners were Gary Lester of Danvers and Joan Crawford of Ipswich, Massachusetts. 

A big congratulations is extended to volunteer Robin Miniter, a 16 year-old student of the Ipswich Public High School, who raised $455 dollars.  For a required community service project, Robin raised money for our Give the Gift of Hearing program, sponsoring three children with new hearing aids and ear molds. She also designed new business cards for us!  Thank you Robin!

An unsolicited  $500 contribution from the Henry Family foundation was given to offset our costs of a cookbook, currently in production.  We are so blessed to have this project managed by Carol Hoy and Leanne Emerton of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  Their small volunteer committee received hundreds of recipes from friends and family, which will be published in a Tried and True cookbook.  The hard cover book will cost $10 and will be ready for sale in September.  A warm thank you is extended to Carol and Leanne who spent countless hours coordinating recipes and organizing the book.  They plan to continue to support Greater Voice by selling cookbooks and by planning a future fundraiser in the upcoming year.

How you can help:

Help us reach people who can contribute in some way.  Here are some ideas:

1.       Purchase and sell Tried and True cookbooks!

2.       Raise money for hearing aids and our Give the Gift of Hearing project

3.   Volunteer who can help us manage our Impact Auction website

4.       Research family foundations that may be interested in contributing

5.       Support us with Impact Auction web site management

6.       Help with translation of materials into Spanish and French

7.       Help us source sound proofing materials

8.       Volunteers in very specialized areas:

a.       auditory-verbal therapy

b.       mainstream education and transition programs

c.       audiology

                                                                           i.      evaluations

                                                                         ii.      hearing aids

                                                                        iii.      ear molds

                                                                       iv.      health management

                                                                         v.      fm amplification

d.       evaluation services

                                                                           i.      cognitive

                                                                         ii.      academic

                                                                        iii.      speech and language

                                                                       iv.      social emotional

Partners for A Greater Voice is a unique and specialized organization devoted to helping deaf and hard of hearing children through professional development, technology and training initiatives.  We advocate for spoken language. 

I wish to thank our contributors and volunteers. Their generosity has helped us continue our programming.  All assistance is truly appreciated.

Warmly,  Joanne Travers, Executive Director