There are hundreds of hearing impaired and deaf children in Bali. The ALF is funding a number of projects working with LUMINA and Yayasan Corti in Renon, Denpasar.  LUMINA is a commercial centre that provides hearing testing and also has a non-profit foundation called Yayasan Corti.

The projects funded by ALF are:

1.  Hearing Aids: The SLBB School Hearing Program provides hearing testing services, and hearing aid fitting services for the children attending SLBB (Special Needs Schools for the Hearing Impaired). Children who enter the SLBB schools in Bali have rarely had a hearing test.  They are identified as ‘deaf’ because they have failed to learn to speak.  This program seeks to identify those children who have some hearing and give those children the benefit of the use of hearing aids. The goal of the program is to enable the hearing impaired child to maximize the use of their hearing, which is a very individual process.

Thus far, ALF has provided hearing aids (plus annual maintenance) to 195 children. Our partner YKIP has been working with LUMINA on testing and fitting all of the eligible children at the State Schools for the Hearing Impaired (SLBB) in Jimbaran, Singaraja, Tabanan and Sidhakarya.

2.  Sushrusa playgroup and Kindergarten:  The ALF has funded the establishment of Bali’s only Playgroup and Kindergarten for the Hearing Impaired at LUMINA.  It's named Sushrusa, which is a Sanskrit word meaning “love to learn” and “hearing”.  As of the start of the 2009-2010 school year there are 10 students in the Playgroup and 8 in the Kindergarten with 15 graduates ready to start first grade.  The teachers here use the Total Communications Approach with individualized attention.  This approach has resulted in students that excel and even surpass their peers who are going into First Grade.

3.  Audiometers: The goal of this project is to identify infants born with hearing loss and begin treatment that will see them fitted appropriately with hearing aids before they reach 1 year of age.  That way they will have the best possible chance to learn to speak. The project requires the use of specialized equipment that ALF funded in 2009 and also requires ongoing program monitoring and data collection.  Physicians in Bali are very interested in and supportive of the planned screening program.  A pilot program was conducted in 2009 at three Bali Hospitals and the use of the equipment, data collected, and administrative issues were identified.  Overall the project has been quite successful to date with 28 babies identified for further ASSR (BERA) testing and 10 babies fitted with hearing aids.  

4.  Soundbooth at Sanglah Hospital. In 2009, ALF funded the installation of an audiologic facility in Sanglah Hospital that provided the facilities and the equipment to enable the clinical testing of hearing.  This facility was specially designed to accommodate the testing of children and infants, as well as being appropriate for adults.  With the current facility, physicians are now able to expand their audiologic knowledge and improve their testing skills.  They are also able to test their patients (of any age) to diagnose the nature of a hearing impairment.

The facility enhances the Infant Screening Program at Sanglah Hospital by providing a shielded and quiet location to conduct OAE testing when other locations are not suitable.  It also enhances their ability to diagnose and treat ear disease in the pediatric population by enabling a diagnostic assessment.

5.  Hearing Outreach Project:  Many hearing difficulties can be treated or prevented with timely medical care. The poor rural families in remote rural locations are unable to travel to the cities to access treatment.  In Bali, there are many well trained THT Physicians who are willing to provide services to rural communities, but lack the resources to purchase supplies and to travel.  

 In 2009, ALF began a program to assist the doctors with the provision of a van and driver to travel, a nurse to provide assistance, and equipment and supplies to enable treatment.

This program is being coordinated to compliment a National Initiative for Hearing Health, and it involves working with a committee of THT Doctors and administrators from each health district that LUMINA works with.  It is LUMINA’s  goal that in linking this program with the goals of a national initiative that the program will remain sustainable.

The plan is to be able to visit each of the 127 PUSKESMAS (Community Health Centres) in Bali with the THT physicians and nurses to provide testing and training a the clinics as well as a preventative educational program.  Since the beginning of this project in 2009, three areas have been visited.

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Lumina Hearing Project