About Us

Articles About Help The Children Hear - The Rotarian Magazine

The Sounds of Hope
by M. Kathleen Pratt

Rosario couldn't speak English. In fact, the four-year-old couldn't speak at all. But her wide eyes communicated volumes as she sat, motionless, while the doctor fitted the tiny device that would change her life.

There were more than 50 children who gathered at Hospital del Nino Jesus one day in April 2000, but Rotarian Katherine Abbiate and her daughter Amanda will never forget Rosario.

"She was extremely bright," recalls Amanda. "She could comprehend everything that was going on, even though she had no way to communicate."

Today, Rosario does have a way to communicate. Like hundreds of other children in Argentina's Tucuman province, she received a hearing aid through Help the Children Hear, a Matching Grant project established by Rotarians in Argentina and New Jersey, USA.

The day Rosario received her hearing aid, she began a new life filled with laughter, conversation and learning. For Amanda, that same day was the culmination of a journey that began in 1998, when she was a Youth Exchange Student in northwest Argentina. Amanda was hosted by the family of Pablo Muntaner, a young man whom the Abbiate family had hosted when he was a Youth Exchange Student in the United States the previous year. . .

To read more of "The Sounds of Hope," please see the November 2001 issue of The Rotarian magazine, or return to HTCH website at a later date. Thank you.