A Voice to Infants

Misheelt Batjargal and her fellow club members are giving a voice to infants and toddlers in Mongolia who would otherwise live in a silent world.

As part of a large-scale community project, the Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Peace Avenue, Mongolia, is equipping hospitals with screening devices to test newborns’ hearing. Batjargal, an ear, nose, and throat physician, says screening to detect hearing loss is not routine nationwide in Mongolia. She estimates that more than 200 hundred children in the country lose their hearing each year.

But Batjargal believes this is preventable. Early screenings are crucial for infants because, left undiagnosed, hearing impairment can impede children’s development in speech, language, and cognition.