Currently, 95% of Fijian children are being vaccinated against Rubella, which is good news, but this was not always the case. There are many, many older Fijians who are deaf or have severe hearing difficulties, and not all of them are able to afford to go to an audiologist.
There is an Australian audiometrist in Suva who does free work for poorer people. The Parkes Que Club has been supporting this work for many years by supplying him with old, behind the ear type, hearing aids.
This is where you may be able to help. Do you have any discarded hearing aids at home? It doesn’t matter whether or not they still work. Tom Shepherd cannibalises the faulty one and uses the good parts to make working hearing aids. Of course, if they still work, that’s even better.
We now have several locations where there are boxes where you can leave your old hearing aids, and they will be emptied just before our monthly business meetings and sent on to Tom. This is such a simple way to give some less fortunate people the gift of hearing.
You will find our boxes at Can Assist, Central West Child Care Services, Hanson Optometrist, OPSM and St Vincent de Paul in Parkes, and also at the Forbes Medical Centre.
These new boxes are also big enough to hold discarded prescription glasses. As there is no longer a Lions Club in Parkes, we send these onto the Lions who distribute them to needy people in other countries.
Que Club would also like to thank all the people in Parkes and Forbes who are now knitting Teddy Bears for our local ambulances to comfort small children in distressing circumstances. The finished bears now can be left at Parkes Décor near the Leagues Club.
These are all small ways in which working together we can make a huge difference to the lives of disadvantaged people.
If you want any more information about these projects or about our Que club, call Pam on 0407 894 498.
By Pam Nankivell
Parkes Que Club