The JOSH Foundation initiative with ATOS at Santokba Hall, Mumbai saw over a 100 children with hearing impairment being presented with Digital Hearing Aids and the inauguration of a sports education programme for 600 students across various special schools. Besides hosts Audiologist-Speech Therapist DevangiDalal, ENT Specialist Dr.Jayant Gandhi of JOSH FOundation and Murli Menon and Gohil Surendrasinh of ATOS, the programme that was attended by 150 children and 50 teachers among others also saw actors Dino Morea and Mukesh Rishi, singer Shibani Kashyap and journalist-filmmaker S Ramachandran, filmmaker Dr.Farhad Vijay Arora, philanthropist Dr.Aneel Kashi Murarka inspire and entertain the children.
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| Kids perform at the JOSH Foundation-ATOS free digital hearing aid distribution initiative |
The hearing impaired children sang songs, danced to music that they could not hear without missing a beat and did sports demos. Not one made it evident that he/she is hearing impaired!
JOSH Foundation is an NGO for the upliftment of children with hearing impairment, set up by ENT Specialist Dr. Jayant Gandhi and Audiologist – Speech Therapist Devangi Dalal, with a mission to empower differently-abled children.
Devangi Dalal requested those present to join the foundation to encourage the kids and play a vital role to include them in the ‘normal’ society. "The best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they can only be felt," she avered.
“We, at JOSH Foundation, have believed in giving back to the society what we have received. Both Dr. Jayant Gandhi and I have worked towards benefitting children with digital hearing aids. Each device changes the life of not just the child but the family as well. We are glad that ATOS is helping us in this initiative. The sports initiative helps in the child’s self-development, inculcates confidence and team building as well,” added Dalal.
Mukesh Rishi said, “in the foreign countries when a child is born, he/she is immediately tested for hearing within 6-8 months of birth so that issues, if any, can be detected and rectified. The treatment can be done with ease and the child can find relief for life. I urge our Government to work in the same direction so our kids can have a better tomorrow.”
“A deaf child is normally termed as dumb as well. But the child actually needs a digital hearing aid like I saw today at the JOSH and ATOS initiative. The child becomes an asset to the society and we see them touch the skies. Each of us should do our bit,” adds Dino Morea.
“People who are called deaf and dumb will no longer be labelled that way because now, with the help of the digital hearing aids, they can hear, speak, sing and dance, just the way any of us would. JOSH Foundation and ATOS, together, have defied the perception of the deaf and dumb, empowering them thereof,” expressed Shibani Kashyap.
Journalist-Filmmaker S Ramachandran, filmmaker Dr.Farhad Vijay Arora, Philanthropist Dr.Aneel Kashi Murarka and other guests also lauded the JOSH Foundation-ATOS’s noble initiative.
