“The Child Will Start to Speak”: 3-Year-Old Katrusia from Dnipro Receives Hearing Aids Provided by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Katrusia was born in 2022 in a basement during one of the shellings in Sloviansk. As a baby, she was brought to Dnipro and placed in a foster family. Her mother immediately noticed that the child had hearing problems because the girl responded poorly to words and sounds. Now, after all the necessary examinations, 3-year-old Katrusia has received state-of-the-art hearing aids from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. They hearing aids adapt to the child’s needs – and now the girl will begin learning to speak.

“We expect Katia to become a singer. Sometimes she stands near the speaker and moves as if she is about to dance and sing. I believe she will start speaking and am very grateful to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for timely and necessary help for the child. We knew time was working against her,” says Tetiana, who cares for Katrusia.

Tetiana is an IDP from Lysychansk. Since the start of the full-scale war, she relocated to Dnipro and became a foster mother to four children. She admits she could not afford hearing aids on her own, so she is glad that her child can now adapt to society.

“Katrusia has quite significant hearing loss – she hears only loud sounds. Thanks to hearing aids and proper training, she will definitely develop speech skills. These are smart devices, individually adjustable. Importantly, they analyse the specific acoustic situation the child is in and adapt accordingly,” says Iryna Bannyk, audiologist-hearing prosthetist at the “Hearing Center.”

Assistance with hearing aids within the “Rinat Akhmetov to Children. Now I Can Hear” project can be received by children with hearing impairments under the age of 7 who live or lived in territorial communities in combat zones, under occupation, or under siege.

Overall, the “Rinat Akhmetov to Children” program has provided diverse support to about 6 million children. “Rinat Akhmetov to Children. Help that gives tomorrow”

If you have a child among your relatives or acquaintances who needs hearing aids, please call the free hotline 0800509001 (Monday to Friday) or contact the Foundation through messenger: https://m.me/AkhmetovFDU