My name is Radha Kulkarni, and I am from Raichur. I lost my parents when I was barely 2 months old. With great difficulty, my grandmother raised me, gave me an education and managed to get me married. Soon, I was blessed with a daughter and was blissfully happy. However, there was something different about Raghavi. I’ve seen other babies pay attention to sounds, but she was oblivious to any noise around her. I decided to get her checked, and after much pleading and crying, my husband agreed to take Raghavi to a doctor.
The doctor conducted some tests and told us that my 9-month-old daughter has profound hearing loss in both her ears. He said that she could not hear even very loud sounds.
I was shocked and did not want to believe the doctor. Slowly I realized that it was indeed true. I now wanted to do everything possible to help Raghavi lead a normal life. So I frantically searched for various treatments. I was advised by some doctors to try hearing aids.
Unfortunately, using a hearing-aid didn’t help her at all. The only option was to get a cochlear implant done.
Raghavi being a girl, we had to think of her marriage expenses too in future. My husband felt that the surgery would not only be very expensive but also may not benefit our daughter.
As a mother, I felt differently. I wanted to somehow get Raghavi to hear and then make her learn to speak. She was using only signs now to communicate with us. 4 years went by and my sense of helplessness grew worse. Looking at my situation, one of my friends recommended that I go to Samvaad Institute of Speech and Hearing in Bangalore. We met the Director, Audiologist Radhika Poovayya there and she strongly recommended that we go ahead with cochlear implants for Raghavi. She emphasized that with cochlear implants our daughter could learn to speak and lead a normal life.
PIC : RAGHAVI' LIFE WILL BE TRANSFORMED ONCE SHE GETS COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
We went back to Raichur and I tried desperately to convince my husband to agree for the surgery. He refused. I was determined to give my daughter a normal life. So with bag and baggage in one hand and my daughter in the other I came to Bangalore. Dr. Radhika Poovayya helped me with accommodation and has even given me a job at Samvaad Institute. Raghavi has begun intensive therapy at the institute. However, now I am in desperate need of funds for the Cochlear implants
PIC: Dr. Radhika Poovayya of SAMVAAD INSTITUTE with Raghavi & her mum Radha
I need to raise INR 4.5 L for Raghavi’s cochlear implants. She’s already lost a lot of time, and would have been in school today like children her age, had we treated her earlier.
Although, the total cost of the treatment is INR 7 L, we are eligible for a government subsidy of INR 3 L. With crowdfunding charges, we now need a total of INR 4.5 L.
TAX BENEFITS -
This campaign is eligible for Tax benefits . Receipts will be issued by Samvaad .
WHAT DOES IT COST -
ABOUT COCHLEAR IMPLANTS -
A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin.
An implant has the following parts:
- A microphone, which picks up sound from the environment.
- A speech processor, which selects and arranges sounds picked up by the microphone.
- A transmitter and receiver/stimulator, which receive signals from the speech processor and convert them into electric impulses.
- An electrode array, which is a group of electrodes that collects the impulses from the stimulator and sends them to different regions of the auditory nerve.
An implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, it can give a deaf person a useful representation of sounds in the environment and help him or her to understand speech. Children who receive a cochlear implant can learn to speak like their normal hearing peers when they are also provided with intensive auditory verbal therapy.
A basic model of cochlear Implant costs INR 5.9 L, and that’s what has been recommended for Raghavi. There is also the cost of surgery and post surgical rehabilitation.
ABOUT DR. RADHIKA POOVAYYA
Dr. Radhika Poovayya, a Speech Language Pathologist and Behaviour Analyst, is the founder and director of Samvaad Institute of speech and hearing.
She holds a postgraduate degree in Speech Pathology and audiology from the All India Institute of speech and Hearing. She has 30 years of experience in the field. Starting work as a volunteer at Tata Tea hospital in Munnar, Radhika went on to join Dr.S.R. Chandrasekhar institute of Speech and Hearing where she worked for 7 years as a Speech pathologist and PRO.
Since her first love has always been clinical work she established Samvaad - Speech Therapy Centre in 2002 at Domlur, Bangalore. Here she gained enormous clinical experience. In 2005, she founded Samvaad Institute of speech and hearing at Hebbal, Bangalore.
Radhika Poovayya is also a US Board certified behaviour analyst. Her areas of expertise include treatment of children with Autism, with hearing impairment and adults with language disorders subsequent to stroke.
ABOUT THE SAMVAAD INSTITUTE :
Samvaad Institute of Speech and Hearing is affiliated to the Bangalore University and is recognised by the Rehabilitation Council of India. GSM Education Trust manages the activities of the Institute.
The objective of the institute is to train professionals in the specialized field of Speech language Pathology and Audiology. Additionally the Institute provides services to people with speech, hearing and language disabilities.
Samvaad foundation is the charitable arm of the institute which oversees all the services provided to the community. Samvaad institute has clinical affiliations with Syracuse university and A.G BELL (Alexander Graham Bell) foundation USA.
FAQs
Will we get to know details of the operation and impact ?
Yes. After the money has been collected it will be transferred by Fueladream to SAMVAAD. Once the operation is done they shall upload details about this on the UPDATES section of this campaign. You will then get an alert & can read details about how this little young girls life has changed .
What are the crowdfunding charges?
Fueladream charges 2% for the payment for the payment gateway and 7% as crowdfunding charges. With Goods and Services Tax the total comes to 10.62%. There is also an initial fee of 3000 INR which is being waived for us.
When do I get the receipts?
It takes upto 2 weeks after the campaign is closed for the money to be transferred. The receipts will begin processing about 4 to 8 weeks AFTER the campaign ends and will be sent to you directly.
How does crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding in India is a relatively new concept & is growing very quickly.
It’s a concept that allows a large number of funders (like you) to fund an Idea or a cause or event by giving small amounts of money online. Fueladream.com is a crowdfunding platform in India that allows for such a pooling of funds.
You can fund innovations & ideas on FuelADream and be the first to get these products or make them come true. You can also do a good turn by funding charities and causes through crowdfunding. When you fund a charity it’s more like a donation & you get small innovative rewards like a shout-out on a FB page or a thank you email from the beneficiaries.
