Francisco is a hardworking husband and father in Juarez,
Mexico, who has the added challenge of being almost completely deaf. Resulting
from an accident when he was 12 years old, he only has about 20% of his
hearing. He had a job in a factory until 2 years ago, when during the outbreak
of deadly violence in the city, they were carjacked and Francisco was beaten up
badly and threatened with death. They fled to a relative in another part of the
country, leaving behind their house and livelihood. After things calmed down
somewhat in Juarez, they returned last year, but Francisco was without a job.
Searching for employment and going to interviews, he was repeatedly turned down
due to his deafness. Finally he found work as an auto mechanic, although his
coworkers and boss get frustrated at their need to shout so he can hear what
they are saying.
Francisco has an old hearing aid that he got many years
ago, but it continually breaks down. He takes it to get repaired, it works for
a day or to, then he needs to get it fixed again. He went to an ear doctor to
get fitted for another hearing aid, but the device costs $750 — a huge expense
to this poor family. Francisco makes $65 a week, and $20 of that pays their
weekly rent. They wanted to schedule payments to get the hearing aid, but the
office insists on everything up front. He’s only been able to save $85 towards
it since October, and now the doctor is saying he is taking too long to pay and
that they won’t save it for him any longer. Knowing how important this is for
Francisco keeping his job, we told him we would help raise the balance.
Monica and the children (who are very involved in our
ministry of teaching catechism and walk 40 minutes each way to our center every
Saturday) are so glad that Francisco will be able to hear better soon.