THE PROMISE OKONKWO'S BLOG- HappilyHearingAfter

South Sudan’s Deaf find hope amid despair  (Photo credit: United Nations via Flickr)         South Sudan (MNN) — South Sudan is imploding. War and famine have pushed the world’s youngest nation to the brink of collapse. Over the weekend, attackers killed seven aid workers as they transported food aid from the capital to a smaller village. According to BBC News , this was “the deadliest single incident for humanitarians since the country’s civil war began” in 2013. The UN Secretary General recently accused South Sudan’s leaders of virtually ignoring their nation’s plight: Over 5.5 million people face death by starvation (that’s roughly half the population), Another 1.5 million have fled to neighboring nations like Uganda, making South Sudan’s refugee crisis the third-largest in the world , and Approximately 86 percent of these refugees are women and children . Their reason for leaving is clear. “They’ve seen family members killed, they’...

In a first, 25 deaf people are baptized in Burundi The Burundi church's evangelism director weeps as he watches the joyous scene. Deaf people praising God after being baptized at Kamenge Seventh-day Adventist Church in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, on March 25, 2017. [photo credit: East-Central Africa Division]     Twenty-five deaf people were baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s first deaf baptisms in Burundi as church members step up efforts to share the gospel with the hearing impaired across East Africa. A total of 27 people were baptized during a joyous ceremony at the Kamenge Seventh-day Adventist Church in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, on March 25. In addition to the 25 deaf people, the baptismal candidates included a blind person and a hearing person. The baptismal candidates gathered at the front of the church to take the baptismal vow before entering the waters of the baptismal tank last Sabbath. Afterward, they returned to the fron...

Meningitis outbreak kills nearly 270 in Nigeria: officials Nearly 270 people, most of them children, have died in the past five months during the latest meningitis outbreak to hit Nigeria, public health officials said Wednesday. "Presently we have 1,828 suspected cases... and we have 269 deaths in about 15 states," Olubunmi Ojo of the National Centre for Disease Control told local television. At least five northern states -- Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger -- and the Federal Capital Territory have been hit hard and have crossed the threshold for an epidemic, she added. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, director of disease control at the federal ministry of health in Abuja, said those six states accounted for 1,090 infected people and 154 deaths. "Zamfara State alone recorded 590 cases, out of which 29 people have died," he told AFP. Laboratory tests have confirmed that the disease was of a new Type C strain, he added. The World Health Organizati...

For babies, breastfeeding is still best, even if it doesn't make them smarter (though it might)    There are lots of reasons why doctors encourage new mothers to breastfeed their babies. Compared with babies who get formula, babies who are breastfed are less likely to die as a result of infections, sudden infant death syndrome or any other reason. The longer a mother nurses — and the longer she does so exclusively — the bigger the benefits, studies show. Another perceived benefit of breastfeeding is the possibility that it boosts a baby’s brain. A clinical trial involving more than 16,000 infants in Belarus who were randomly assigned to get either special support for breastfeeding (based on a program from the World Health Organization and UNICEF) or a hospital’s usual care found that babies in the first group scored an average of 7.5 points higher on a verbal IQ test and 5.9 points higher on overall IQ. Teachers, apparently, could tell the difference – chi...

Hearing Industries Association (HIA) Response to the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017   WASHINGTON, DC --(Marketwired - March 27, 2017) - On March 20, 2017 the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 (S.670) was introduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). The bill would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to propose a rule to establish an over-the-counter hearing aid (OTC) category for adults with "perceived" mild to moderate hearing loss within three years of passage of the legislation. Representatives Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced an Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid bill (H.R. 1652) in the House, which mirrors the Senate bill. Hearing Industries Association (HIA) supports efforts to increase accessibility and affordability of hearing aids. Nearly two thirds of people with hearing loss in the U.S. have a mild ...

Jacksonville Zoo Officials Helping Deaf Gorilla Become A Mom  Kambuka is a nearly 300 lb. deaf female gorilla living at the Jacksonville Zoo.   The Jacksonville Zoo hopes its gorilla Kambuka will soon become a first-time mom. But Kambuka’s journey to motherhood has been complicated by the recent discovery that she’s deaf. Jacksonville Zoo veterinarian Dr. Yousuf Jafarey said there is often tension between Kambuka and the other gorillas because she doesn’t hear social cues. He said helping Kambuka overcome socialization problems within her gorilla family is an important step to having a baby. “The challenge arises in that other females, they view Kambuka differently. We are concerned about if she does have a baby, how will the troupe handle that baby? How will she handle that baby?” he said. Zoo official JJ Vitale recounted a recent scenario that helped keepers realize Kambuka had a hearing problem. She said the zoo staff gave all the gorillas whole co...

Hearing dogs for deaf people celebrate 35 years: Meet the dogs that save lives every day     Read story here:  Meet the dogs that save lives every day