June 2013 - Francisco's hearing aid



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.

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