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LSLear Listening & Spoken Language East Africa Region

Registered

  • Charity no. 111222
  • Date registered. 09/07/2026

Public benefits

Families in East Africa with deaf children benefit from earlier diagnosis and having the choice and knowledge of what to do if they want their deaf child to develop spoken language and to attend a mainstream school. Medical practitioners in East Africa also benefit from knowing what can be done. Parents can also benefit from having expertise

locally to give them and their child guidance and therapy from qualified Auditory-Verbal Therapists. A pilot programme has begun in a hospital to carry out Newborn Hearing Screening. Three local East African Speech Therapists are now training in Auditory-Verbal Therapy, registered with AG Bell the governing body of Auditory-Verbal Therapists. Every month, the therapists must fulfil the requirements dictated by AG Bell through the mentorship and training provided by Rosie Gardner. None. Deaf children and their families living in East Africa Any benefit is incidental.

What your organisation does

Alongside organisations working in Kenya and Uganda, through workshops and training, we work to increase awareness of the importance of EDHI. A pilot scheme in one hospital is being carried out to test newborn babies for hearing loss and ensuring appropriate follow up is in place. We are currently training and mentoring 3 East Africa Speech and

Language Therapists to train in Auditory-Verbal Therapy, with the hope that they will be some of the first to qualify in East Africa, to be able to provide expertise to families with deaf children. We also support a new pre-school which we hope will open in 2027 that will be fully inclusive of deaf children using technology and their hearing peers.

The charity’s classifications

  • The advancement of health or the saving of lives
  • The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage

Who the charity helps

  • Children (5-13 year olds)
  • General public
  • Physical disabilities

How the charity works

  • Advice/advocacy/information
  • Medical/health/sickness
  • Medical/health/sickness

Charitable purposes

The purposes of the charity (‘the purposes’) are to meet the needs of babies and children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in Kenya and Uganda, through provision of the tools, training, knowledge, expertise and support to enable them to learn to listen, talk, and thrive, increasing their quality of life, by, but not limited to: (a) supporting the Early Detection of Hearing Impairment (EDHI) (b) working with health professionals to promote diagnosis and early intervention using listening technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants (c) mentoring and training Speech Therapists in Kenya and Uganda to acquire a high level of expertise in using Auditory-Verbal principles effectively (d) encouraging and promoting inclusion of deaf children in mainstream schools and pre-school settings, whenever appropriate

Governing document

Trust Deed or Declaration of Trust

Other name

  • Listening Ears
  • 7 Trustees
  • 0 Employees
  • 0 Volunteers

Trustee board

  • Rosie Gardner
  • Paul Gardner
  • John Lenton
  • Christine Allister
  • Justin Gerring
  • Trevor Douglas
  • Jill Hamilton

Contact details

Public Address

Rosie, 17 Barrack Hill, Banbridge, Co. Down, 17 Barrack Hill, BT32 4HE

List of regions

  • Internationally
  • Kenya
  • Uganda

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