Doctors at the cochlear implant unit at Tygerberg Hospital evaluated little Tiana with exhaustive tests and scans over a month for suitability for a cochlear implant operation which could improve her hearing.

Finally they declared the child an ideal candidate for the operation.

But Delah's joy quickly turned to misery when she was given the shattering news that it would take R168000 for Tiana to have the operation.

On top of that Delah was also given a deadline - Tiana must have the operation as soon as possible, preferably before she turns three in October.

Delah works as a cashier at a furniture shop in King William's Town but admits she also relies on her mother's old age pension and her daughter's disability grant.

She takes Tiana to speech therapy lessons twice a week at the Carel du Toit Centre for children with hearing difficulties in East London. Tiana has made poor progress and relies on visual input and lip-reading for communication

Tiana, who was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf at Frere Hospital in November 2003, has been wearing hearing aids but they have not improved her hearing.

Delah said: "I want my child to be like any other child and grow and be able to stand for herself when I'm dead. In this world no one has the time to look after children with disabilities.

"Sometimes I go to the school instead of going to work just to be with her and to watch her progress. She means a lot to me. She is my first-born and my only child."

Delah, a single mother, said she could not think of having more children because she needs to take care of her daughter.

Tiana was referred to Tygerberg Hospital by the Carel du Toit Centre in May. Michel Nel, head of the centre, said Tiana should have the operation soon.

"The younger the child is when implanted, the sooner she will start to assimilate language and start to talk."

The centre has 15 children with hearing difficulties and only one has the cochlear implants.

Nel said the Australian-made inner-ear implant is an electronic device that stimulates partial hearing. Surgically implanted, it is activated by a device worn outside the ear. It stimulates the cochlea, allowing the profoundly hard of hearing to receive sound.

By Lindile Sifile