It's never an easy decision to flee your country. Svetlana fled to Ireland just after the Russian invasion started...
Meet Svetlana who fled to Ireland from her hometown Donetsk, Ukraine with her daughter, just after the Russian invasion started, not knowing what would happen next. Upon arriving in March, her daughter was relocated to a home whilst Svetlana was given accommodation at a Hotel, where she has been living since.
After seeing our poster displayed in the Ukrainian Embassy, 72 year old Svetlana made the decision to contact Jordi and Olha, to see how they could help her with her hearing. Due to her limited mobility, this made it very difficult for her to travel so they arranging to visit her themselves.
It’s never an easy decision to flee your country but this brave woman had to do just that. She told Jordi and Olha how difficult it had been, knowing that she had to leave everything she knew behind whilst also daunted by the prospect of entering a country where she didn’t even speak the language. As a result of this, she rarely socialised outside of the Hotel’s refugee group or her daughter.
Svetlana loves to watch the TV, indifferent to the language barrier, but since moving into the Hotel she’s been very cautious about having the TV too loud and disturbing the other hotel tenants. When she was living in Ukraine she thoroughly enjoyed watching the TV with the volume up, but she often found it quite difficult to talk with her friends and family due to hearing loss.
This is where Jordi works his audiological magic! He tested her hearing and confirmed she had a moderate high frequency hearing loss. In order to help Svetlana begin living life to the fullest again, he decided to provide her with a pair of Mini BTEs. Once Jordi had fitted her new hearing aids, Svetlana could not believe how small they were, but most importantly how well she was now able to hear. She marvelled at the clarity of Jordi and Olha’s voices speaking to her and being able to hear every little background noise, including both people mumbling and music all at the same time.
After their visit Jordi received the email below from Svetlana:
Dear Jordi Cornado Hearing Aid Dispenser! I am Svetlana Gladysheva. I currently live in Ireland in a Hotel. Thank you very much for your help with my hearing problem. You and your assistant Olha have done so much for me. Examined, manufactured, adjusted and installed a pair of hearing aids, just for me. Also, it is very valuable to me that you, spared your time and money, to visit me yourselves. It is difficult for me to get to Bonavox myself, because I am disabled. I arrived from Ukraine in March 2022. I read the announcement about this Centre in the Telegram app on the Hotel page in April, and your help turned out to be very effective. I wish you good luck, strength and health for further good deeds. I am very happy that there are still such sympathetic people like you! All the best. Svetlana
Translated by Google