Local hearing clinic donates refurbished hearing aids in Rwanda

Hear Well Be Well recently sent staff to Rwanda to administer the hearing aids

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A local hearing clinic is putting used hearing aids to good use.

Bolton's Hear Well Be Well is donating sanitized and refurbished used hearing aids to the medical community in Rwanda.

The clinic's marketing manager Wendy Moore explained used hearing aids can't be sold or donated in Ontario, and said it's a shame as most can be refurbished. To keep good hearing aids from going to landfills, Moore said Hear Well Be Well instead donates them to those in need in Rwanda.

In 2023, the clinic donated 300 hearing aids to people in Rwanda, sending staff to the country as well to help fit the hearing aids. 

Hear Well Be Well's CEOs, John and Kathleen Tiede, have been donating hearing aids for many years. 

“Going to Rwanda for the fifth time was as rewarding as the first time I went in 2010,” said Kathleen. 

This year, Kathleen, alongside John, field manager Nancy Robinson, and hearing Instrument specialist Jotham Pratt, went to the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali to work with medical personnel on hearing testing and administering hearing aids.

Robinson, a Shelburne resident, said she felt privileged to be part of the team attending the hospital and seeing patients.

John said he was honoured to share in the experience with his staff.