Saturday 6 February 2010

Love Makes a Difference

Chen Rui is a pretty little girl from western Hunan province in the grand People's Republic of China. What has given this angel a tragic start to her life is that she lives in a soundless world. When we first came to ChangSha Language Training Center, the two-year-old child looked all round her for the colorful toys and playmates. In her mother's arms, she was very anxious and excited to express her feelings and used these sounds: “wala wala wuwu” (this does not mean anything in Chinese), but we did not understand her. She smiled, but her mother started crying.

In the ChangSha Deaf Centre, she learnt to feed herself, put on shoes, do up the buttons and a series of other useful skills. A month later, she could already say “ma-ma” and “ba-ba” (“Mother” and “Father” in Chinese). However, as she lives in a mountainous area in HuNan and her family is suffering financial hardship, they could not easily afford the best hearing-aid and this made it difficult for her to hear or understand anything. Her parents were very sad and her teachers were dreadfully sorry for her.

In 2007, she got a new hearing aid. She has noticeably improved her hearing. Now she is able to distinguish sounds clearly. What a big change for her! Chen Rui has made tremendous progress in her study. After a year of rehabilitation, her hearing ability has reached Grade III. Now she takes the initiative to communicate with others in words.

Her parents were very pleased with her progress. They were so excited that they could hardly find suitable words to express their gratitude, but kept on saying: Thank you! Thank You! Love really makes a difference! Thank you to all supporters for your support to the ChangSha Deaf Centre. If you are interested in helping children like Chen Rui, please send a mail or if you understand Norwegian, please make a donation here