Jennie met Ian and Joanne Megaw in July 2016 in Hera as she was working both at the disability centre and at the school. Jennie was returning in July 2017 and asked if she could join our team, especially as Ian and Joanne were once again returning to Hera. It is great how the East Timor Project is connecting with not only people in the village of Bahareduk but other areas within East Timor. It is also fantastic having people from different churches and beyond our ‘church’ community as members of the Working Party Mission trips.

 

Q. Jennie, what is your official job title in Australia and what keeps bringing you back to Timor- Leste?
A. I’m qualified and registered as an Audiologist, predominantly working in clinical rehabilitation and training. My motivations for returning in July 2017 were to stock the disability clinic at Hera with medications and vitamins not obtainable in Timor and to continue providing hearing and ear health training, hearing checks, and treatment plans. I was able to screen hearing of 200 people from school kids to the deaf community and fit 6 pairs of hearing aids. Jennie was also able to visit other places in Dili as well as Atauro Island which is a small island situated 25km north of Dili. There are a number of different ways to get to Atauro Island (usually by boat) of varying lengths of time, however, Jennie was able to fly with the assistance of the MAF plane.

 

Q. What was your purpose in visiting Atauro Island?
A. To detect hearing loss and provide options for rehabilitation in a collaborative and ultra sensitive approach. I was able to go with a wonderful team consisting of 3 Timorese (an.interpreter and 2 students, all who sign), Wennie, who runs the deaf school of Dili in her garage, Barbara, our corporate visionary, and me, testing and training on detecting hearing loss, testing and hearing aid Otting.

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Q. What was the highlight for you of the trip to Atauro?
A. Playing soccer with the village kids on their lunch break visiting the deaf in their community store I am also presently involved and working on the opening of a new centre in Dili. This will be able to provide the best hearing service for pediatrics in Timor, comprising of a building for the 80 deaf school students (presently in a garage in Dili), and a speech and hearing rehab centre. I spent the last week training the relevant team to pioneer this once some of our funding starts to come through. I was also able to leave some hearing aids in Dili and these will be Otted by another Audiologist who will be visiting East Timor this month. God’s doors opened easily to open up sponsorship so I could go! I would like to thank Ian & Jo Megaw who supported me in Onance, kindness and fellowship amongst others who have poured blessing toward me for this trip.

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I would like to thank Ian & Jo Megaw who supported me in finance, kindness and fellowship amongst others who have poured blessing toward me for this trip.