“Can you hear me?” the specialist asked.
Nine-year-old Naama sat beside the specialist’s desk. A cable connected her new hearing device to the computer in front of him. He asked another question: “How are you?”
“Alhamdulillah,” she answered.
The fitting of Naama’s hearing device marked a moment her father, Mohammad, says the family had spent years seeking.
What the family noticed first
Mohammad says the family noticed signs of Naama’s hearing loss when she was a baby.
“When she was little, she didn’t shout, didn’t cry, or hear anything,” he says.
According to Mohammad, tests found that Naama’s right ear had not fully developed. They also found that she could not hear from her left ear. The family then began searching for help.
A search that lasted for years
Naama’s hearing loss changed the family’s daily life. Outings became difficult because they worried about her safety and well-being.
“We stopped going anywhere, because we worry about her,” Mohammad says. He also stopped visiting his village.
Gatherings with other children were especially difficult. “When we see kids screaming and hearing, while she doesn’t shout or hear, our morale drops to zero.”
The hardest moments came when Naama expressed what she was experiencing herself.
“What exhausts me the most is when she comes and says, ‘I can’t hear.’”
Mohammad continued contacting clinics and asking for help. “I left no place unvisited,” he says. “I want nothing from this life except for my daughter to hear again.”
The fitting of Naama’s hearing device
People in the community eventually directed Mohammad to Human Development Fund (HDF).
“Alhamdulillah, people guided us to you,” he says. “We reached out to you, and mashallah, you didn’t fall short in anything.”
HDF’s team joined the family at SoundWay on the day of the fitting. SoundWay is a center for medical and hearing devices. Before the appointment began, one HDF team member told the family, “Insha’Allah, her condition will improve today.”
At the specialist’s desk, Naama heard the questions and answered.
“My daughter can hear again”
After the fitting, Mohammad stood in the hallway with his hand on Naama’s shoulder.
“My daughter can hear again,” he says. “Alhamdulillah. Truly, it’s a feeling I can’t describe. I can’t describe it at all.”
Naama left SoundWay with her family. Mohammad’s final words on camera were for the people who helped make the fitting possible: “Jazakum Allahu khairan.”
For Naama’s family, years of searching led to one specialist’s desk. Other families are still looking for the medical assistance their children need.
Support HDF’s Medical Aid programs and help patients access essential healthcare.
