Cautions Liberians not to stigmatize people with hearing difficulties
BREWERVILLE, MONTSERRADO COUNTY – Church Aid Incorporated, in collaboration with its local partners OCM Health Team, Rotary Club of Monrovia and local communities celebrated its 26th anniversary over the weekend in the Township of Caldwell in District #11 in Montserrado County. The event gathered more than 150 people including individuals suffering from hearing impairments, elders, and community members from District #11, Montserrado County. During the program, approximately 64 individuals with hearing difficulties were screened and tested, while foreign objects and impacted wax were removed from the ears of two participants. Others were treated for ear infection
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Paye N. Gbanmie, Medical Director at the government-run hospital in Bensonville, Montserrado County and Team Lead of OCM Health Team, called on the government of Liberia to support the efforts of Church Aid Incorporated. The organization has been providing free medical outreach services across the country since its establishment 26 years ago. Speaking on the theme: “The Importance of Promoting Ear and Hearing Healthcare in Liberia and the Role of Local Communities”, the medical doctor “thank God for Church Aid Inc. for their commitment in addressing a critical need in our healthcare delivery system, consistently been involved with addressing one of the four major disabilities confronting the population – hearing, speech, mobility, and vision…”
Dr. Gbanmie emphasized the need for greater collaboration between Church Aid Incorporated, policymakers, and healthcare providers to create an enabling environment that complements their efforts in addressing hearing disability in the country. He announced that OCM Health Team looks forward to partnering with Church Aid Incorporated to refer cases of hearing disabilities identified during their medical and surgical outreach activities. “Dr. Thomas Nimene Tweh Jr. will closely monitor the progress of those patients and provide the necessary assistance for their recovery,” Dr. Gbanmie stated.
The OCM health team head also expressed readiness to provide hands-on training to clinicians, offer medical supplies, and assist organizations like Church Aid Incorporated in their mission. However, they stressed that achieving the goal of alleviating hearing disabilities requires cooperation and support from local community leaders. Dr. Gbanmie therefore urged community members not to stigmatize individuals with hearing disabilities but rather support Church Aid’s initiatives. He delivered these remarks on behalf of Dr. Thomas Nimene Tweh Jr., commonly known as “Original Country Man,” during the 26th-anniversary celebration of Church Aid Incorporated.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Church Aid Inc. (CAI), Bishop Kortu K. Brown, who is also general overseer of New Water in the Desert Assembly Apostolic Pentecostal Church, also spoke at the event. He cited World Health Organization (WHO) statistics that suggests that approximately 150 million people in Africa suffer from some form of hearing difficulties, which he argued can be computed as about 16 percent of Africa’s population. “That could suggest that Liberia’s population affection could be around 800,000 persons who suffer from some form of hearing difficulties”. Bishop Brown, who is also a former President of the Liberia Council of Churches, highlighted that the promotion of hearing healthcare awareness as vital to preventing hearing difficulties and restoring those who have faced hearing challenges for years. He stressed the need to adopt the “solve one problem at a time” model as the strategy Church Aid has adopted to help address hearing difficulties and promote ear and hearing care in the country, calling on Liberians to collaborate with Church Aid in promoting an “ear care revolution” that will help transform ear and hearing care in Liberia
Last year, Church Aid, in collaboration with its international partners i.e. Starkey Hearing Foundation (SHF) and Liberia Hearing Scholarship Fund trained four nurses in “Hearing Instrument Specialists” to assist in screening, testing and treating individuals with hearing complications. The trainees, who attended the program in Lusaka, Zambia, included P. Magdalene Konneh from John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Montserrado County, Hannah H. Newah from the Government Hospital in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, D. Iben Porkpah, and Moses Biman Jr., both from Curran Lutheran Hospital in Lofa County. The training school, Starkey Hearing Institute (SHI) is run by Starkey Hearing Foundation in the USA
Earlier this year, another four nurses left Liberia to undergo similar training in Lusaka, Zambia. They include Blessing Acquire from the Government Hospital in Grand Bassa County, Georgia A. Gray from Redemption Hospital in Montserrado County, Naomi Smith from C.D. Dunbar Hospital in Bong County, and Vanja Mama Kowula from C.H. Rennie Hospital in Margibi County. Church Aid, in collaboration with its international partners, plans to train about twenty nurses to be stationed at government and major hospitals across Liberia to assist those with hearing issues. Currently, Liberia has only one practicing Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor based at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Sinkor, Monrovia.
Church Aid, in collaboration with partners have launched a “Campaign to Promote Hearing Healthcare in Liberia” with about 1500 persons screened, tested and treated since February 2024 including children from more than 6 schools in rural Montserrado. The organization also creates “Community Hearing Awareness Teams (CHATs) to engage local communities’ accompaniment on the initiative. Church Aid also celebrated “World Hearing Day” for the first time in Liberia in March 2024. As a part of the program, the organization is working to procure and donate audiometers to the initial 7 hospitals where hearing instrument specialists are assigned in the country. Church Aid Incorporated is the Apostolic Pentecostal Church International, based in Brewerville, outside Monrovia.
