Amjad’s Story

We parked our compact car in the dirt, piled out and trekked off to find Amjad’s house, leaving puffs of dust in our wake as we made our way down the scrawny alleyway. Amjad, 14 years old, lives in the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, in a row of flats around the corner from a black and white cow tied up outside the butcher’s shop. Three of us from the 3DP4ME Team wanted to deliver his new custom-fit hearing aid molds and check on how he and his mom were doing. Chivalrously, he met us on the street to guide us to their door.

 

He shared about how much better life was at home, school, and the neighborhood since getting his hearing aids, and he was very pleased with his new molds, which fit snugly. We were impressed with how much more confident he was since our last visit and thrilled to hear that he was wearing his aids constantly.

We told him the day before we had a sad visit with a little boy who was too ashamed to wear his aids at school because he gets bullied. Amjad agreed to make a video for us to send to the other boy, encouraging him to wear his devices at school and to not let the bullies bother him. When I asked him what he would advise the younger boy to do if kids teased him, without hesitating he said, “Tell them ‘God forgive you!’ and let it go!”

One of our dreams is to begin building a little community like this where our patients can share their struggles and victories together and champion each other along the challenging journey. Thanks for your donations, which help give the gift of hearing and change lives, one at a time.