Support children with hearing disabilities in refugee camps to be fitted with hearing aids, significantly improving their communication, education, and self-esteem.

The ongoing conflict in Syria (since 2012) has resulted in more than 6 million Syrians fleeing to neighbouring countries and elsewhere. In fact, they are the largest single group of refugees in the world at this time.

The needs of people with disabilities are often not taken into account in the poorly-funded and stressed situations of refugee camps. That’s why, soon after Syrian families began arriving at Zaatari Refugee camp in Jordan (which accommodates 80,000 refugees) the Diocese of Jerusalem’s Holy Land Institute for the Deaf (HLID) established an emergency relief and rehabilitation program for children with hearing disabilities in the camp. Five years later, the program expanded to Jordan’s Azraq Refugee Camp (40,000 refugees), assessing children for hearing difficulties and supplying those who needed them with hearing aids.

The Institute is very well-placed to do this work, as they are located in Salt, in Jordan’s north, within about two hours drive of each refugee camp. The Institute has eight specialist departments which provide K to 12 education leading to university and other further education, and its Deaf-Blind unit is the only such facility in the Arabic-speaking Middle East. This year, it will have been operating for sixty years.

The HLID focusses particularly on girls, since girls with disabilities are the most disadvantaged in the camps. They also provide this service to vulnerable children in the Jordanian hosting communities.

In 2024 the Institute hopes to assess more children for hearing difficulties and to fit those who need them with hearing aids.

Your donation to this project can make a world of difference to 20 of the world’s most vulnerable children, helping with their communication skills and self-esteem, and with their longer-term learning.