Thousand Oaks (and Sister Tijuana Club) Rotarians Partner to Help Hearing-Impaired Children and Elderly
The Thousand Oaks Rotary Club is the International Sponsor of a Global Grant providing hearing aid devices, fittings and speech therapy to underprivileged children and elderly individuals in Tijuana, Mexico. The Tijuana Rotary Club (which has been the “Sister Club” of the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club for over 15 years) was the local Host Club, and the grant project also involved the assistance of two medical services charities located in Tijuana.
Given the COVID-19 pandemic public gathering restrictions, fitting sessions were spread out over four months (from November 2020 through March 2021), with each session involving a small number of recipients, instead of two large fitting ceremonies as was initially planned.
Even though the pandemic prevented in-person participation, Thousand Oaks Rotarians participated via Zoom in three of the fitting sessions. Being able to see the surprised eyes on children’s faces who were hearing for the first time was described as “priceless” by those Rotarians viewing the fittings.
This is the third Hearing Aid Global Grant in which the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club has partnered with the Tijuana Club. Including the member and Club funds provided along with District and Rotary International matches, the project funded a total of $59,000 of hearing aid equipment, fittings and speech therapy.
For more information about this grant and other international service projects of the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club, please contact: Mike Jansen, International Service Committee Chair, at 818-889-3130 or mjansen@mejdc.com.
