“Most of the children we treated experienced a 40 to 60 percent hearing loss since birth or from

childhood diseases and infections,” said Randy Schoenborn, president of NewSound. “A 40-decibel loss can be demonstrated by plugging both index fingers into the ear canals as tightly as possible. At best, this is how these children were able to hear before we came.”

In total, the group fitted 1,742 hearing aides for 871 people in Ciudad Victoria and San Luis, and another 498 hearing aides for 249 people in Monterrey.

“We have clients who donate old hearing aides, and we take these with us for the impoverished,” Johnson said. “To fit the children is amazing. Mexico is such a family oriented country, the whole family would come to watch. The kids are amazed they can hear, and to see a mother be able to be heard by her child for the first time is life changing.”

The devices normally cost $750 each, but were free to people who received them in Mexico.

Next year, the group is considering adding a trip to India or Africa to expand the program.

“We will see where there is a need and send a team to do the testing and make ear impressions for molds,” Johnson said. “They bring the molds back to us, and we make custom fitted hearing aides from those molds.”

In the United States, all newborns are screened for hearing problems before they leave the hospital, as required by law. However, many poorer regions of other countries don’t do this. Mexican children may not be properly assessed until later in life when learning, speech and social acceptance already have been damaged.

“Hearing is a luxury for the patients we see in our Boerne practice — they are able to afford devices and care,” Schoenborn said. “But, to bring the gift of hearing to those who could never pay, that is the joy of this trip that has changed my life.”

To donate old hearing aides, bring them to the NewSound office in Kerrville at 1006 Junction Highway.

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