Enable children with disabilities in Indian slums.

Ishu (10) and Vishu (10) are identical twins who reside in Powai, a Mumbai suburb. They enrolled in the OSCAR football programme in 2020 shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed. They have an elder sister, Radhika who has been playing football at OSCAR for nearly 5 years. They live with their father, who washes cars and mother, who is a homemaker.

Ishu and Vishu have both had profound hearing loss since they were born. To address this, implants were recommended when they were 2 years old. However, this was not feasible due to the high financial cost and low durability of the equipment.  Ishu and Vishu have lived their short lives in silence.

In June 2022, OSCAR organised for Ishu and Vishu to have an audiogram and moulds of their ears taken. Tailor made hearing aids were ordered and fitted on 26th July 2022. There was an instant and joyous impact, both children were able to recognise sounds in the environment and you can only imagine the smiles it brought to their face. As per the doctor’s instructions, adjustment to the hearing aids will be made over the coming months and progress is expected to be gradual. Speech therapy sessions will be conducted at their school to encourage them to talk. The fitting of hearing aids was successful for both Ishu and Vishu and we are excited for their future ahead.

The parents were very emotional and thanked OSCAR and the donor, Sarah Edwards for their intervention. They also thanked coach Komal, who enrolled them into the OSCAR programme and has taken great efforts to ensure their integration with non-disabled children. Ishu and Vishu are now part of the group like any other child. Their non-disabled peers at sessions have been incredibly supportive and inclusive, which is an amazing sign for all of us. We are proud of our entire community in Powai for supporting Ishu and Vishu and hope as a community we can provide more hearing aids and glasses for children living with profound hearing loss and visual impairment.