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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Surgeons give Mongolian girl gift of hearing
Hong Kong South China Morning Post 3Feb00 N1
By Ella Lee
HONG KONG, CHINA -- Nine-year-old Chimegsaikhan Yadamjav from Ulan
Bator, Mongolia can hear normally, thanks to LDS missionaries who helped
her get an operation in Hong Kong that increased the hearing in her left
ear to 80 percent of normal. Yadamjav is completely deaf in the other
ear.
Yadamjav became deaf after running a high fever when she was six months
old. An LDS doctor on a mission to Mongolia examined her recently and
determined that her deafness could be treated. However, the family of
six, which lives on Yadamjav's father's truck driver salary of $300 a
month, had no way to afford the operation, which would cost about
$50,000.
LDS congregations in Hong Kong then stepped in, raising the money for
the operation, and Yadamjav and her family traveled to Hong Kong for the
operation. Surgeons at Adventist Hospital in Hong Kong operated on
Thursday, January 27th and removed the infected tissue and bones in her
left ear.
Yadamjav now tells her mother that she is happy to hear music for the
first time. Missionary Mary Cook, who has been assisting the family
while they are in Hong Kong says, "She seems to enjoy music very much.
She kept ringing the door bell and shouting I hear! I hear! She is so
excited." Her father, Yadamjav Ganbold, told the South China Morning
Post, "I want to express my sincere gratitude. My daughter is so lucky
that she was chosen to receive the treatment."
Prior to the operation, Yadamjav had to attend a special school and
could communicate only through sign language. Now she will be able to
attend the same school as most other students.
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