In Malawi, children have a high incidence of childhood deafness from chronic ear infections that can cause a hole in the ear drum. With only a handful of audiologists and ENT surgeons in the country, children sometimes wait years for an operation, severely disrupting their ability to learn. 

Traditional hearing aids cost between US$100-300 in Malawi, which is too expensive for most of the population. Even if hearing aids are donated, replacing the batteries and traveling to clinics is completely unaffordable. At a school for the deaf in Blantyre, Malawi’s second largest city, only 10% of children have access to hearing aids. 

A simple and sustainable solution

In the UK, when the Covid pandemic prevented families accessing normal ENT services for issues like glue ear, a simple, over the ear headset was developed in Cambridgeshire that allowed children to keep learning without interruption. 

A cheap and rechargeable solution, Tamsin Holland Brown, founder of Hear Glue Ear, recognised that the headset could also allow deaf and hard of hearing Malawian children to continue accessing education. In fact, a study completed by Tamsin and the project team at Maryview School for the Deaf in Blantyre found the devices to be completely transformative. 

Since the study, the team has continued to pilot bone conducting headsets in the audiology department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, create training materials for set up and use of the headsets in both English and Chichewa (the local language), and source affordable, solar powered chargers. 

Reaching more families

Thanks to your support, funds raised for the Malawi Hearing Project will also allow the team to hold a much-needed ear camp in rural Blantyre in October 2024. With the local audiologists able to notify almost all village leaders, families for whom it is very difficult to reach the hospital will be able to come for ear and hearing checks and as much advice, management or treatment as the team are able to offer locally.  

The team aim to identify as many children with hearing loss as possible and give them the resources to communicate and learn more effectively, improving their employment opportunities later on.

How could your donation help?

£25 could buy a solar powered charger to run a Hear Glue Ear headset for up to 25 years

£50 could buy a Hear Glue Ear headset and microphone kit to enable a child with hearing loss to hear and communicate

£100 could provide a hearing test and ear drops for 25 children, helping to identify hearing problems and provide immediate treatment

£250 could help provide training and teaching resources for local audiologists and teachers to ensure long-term, sustainable hearing support

£500 could help fund an ear camp enabling 50 children from remote areas to access support and treatment

Isobel and Tamsin are covering the costs of their own travel to Malawi and are giving their time voluntarily. Donations given towards this project will be focused on providing the essential resources required to deliver the ear camps and to provide children, schools and local care providers with equipment and materials to support their hearing for the long term.

About CGHP

Cambridge Global Health Partnerships (CGHP) is a charitable organisation committed to improving healthcare globally. CGHP was born out of the belief that health should not be predetermined by where we live. Since 2007, CGHP has been strengthening healthcare in low/middle-income countries (LMIC) settings through health partnerships, including this project to address childhood deafness in Malawi.

Find out more about CGHP’s global health partnership projects: https://cambridgeghp.org/