It is a sad fact that deafness amongst young people in very poor parts of Africa can lead them to be cast out and abandoned by their family because they are unable to contribute to the family’s needs.  

A conventional hearing aid runs on batteries but these are neither available in the local communities nor affordable.  Consequently it was necessary to take an entirely new approach and invent a hearing aid that makes use of the natural resource that is available in abundance – the sun.  

Solar Powered Hearing Aids Limited, a Carshalton based company, have invented a low cost solar powered hearing aid for distribution under the guidance of the World Health Organisation’s representatives in Ghana.  

For Rotary, this exciting project falls into 2 distinct sections:

1. Carshalton Beeches have received donations from their twin club in Holland, Roosendaal- Donkenland, and UK clubs – Wallington, Carshalton, New Malden and Sutton Nonsuch.  Topped up with a substantial donation from their own funds, the club has successfully applied for matched funding from both its own Rotary District 1140 and Rotary International in the US to enable an order to be placed for 330 hearing aids to be supplied to Ghana.

2. A team is putting together an application for the hearing aids to become a recommended project for Rotary Clubs in RIBI, whereby clubs donate £600 to purchase 10 hearing aids for use by the WHO in Ghana, whose immediate requirement is 990 hearing aids over the next 2 years.

Individuals and companies will also be encouraged to take part in this project.