GLOBAL FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS

Programs

1. The GFCHL completed its 2 year proprietary training program in auditory-verbal therapy AVT in collaboration with the University of Nairobi in Kenya in 2025. The final two 2-week workshops were successfully executed in June and November. This program meets a key objective of the Kenya National Ear and Hearing Care Strategy by helping to address the significant shortage of local AVT expertise in Kenya that families need to help their young children fit with hearing aids and cochlear implants learn to listen and speak. The GFCHL professional team developed the curriculum and traveled to Kenya to teach the material. The Kenyan participants committed to a series of in-country GFCHL training workshops over two years to learn from the GFCHL AVT curriculum. Online training and support was provided between in-country workshops by the GFCHL professional team. All participants completed the full curriculum and received certificates from the GFCHL and University of Nairobi at the conclusion of the last in-country training workshop in November 2025. They are prepared to provide critical AVT services to families and also help train others in Kenya to make the benefits exponential and…

   $118,567 spent
   50% of program spending

2. The GFCHL successfully executed professional training and community outreach initiatives in August 2025 in three regions of Kenya Nairobi Eldoret Machakos to support the pediatric hearing care infrastructure that it is helping to build for babies and children with hearing loss in the country. Our goals were to: 1 Raise awareness with health education providers and community about pediatric hearing loss and the Continuum of Care; 2 Promote early identification and timely interventions of hearing loss in children among family members to minimize impact on child development; 3 Train teachers to support academic progress in children with hearing aids cochlear implants; 4 Reduce community-wide stigma and misinformation; and 5 Empower participants to share new knowledge and information in their communities. The GFCHL professional team of pediatric audiologists and auditory-verbal therapists and GFCHL Executive Director developed training content and led all seminars. GFCHL presentations and materials were bound into handbooks for participants to keep share with others and use in their clinical work. GFCHL also purchased and donated hearing screening equipment to the Wamunyu Health…

   $54,987 spentof which $30,000 as grants
   23% of program spending

3. The GFCHL funded OAE AABR hearing screening equipment to enable the Bungoma County Referral Hospital BCRH to administer infant and pediatric hearing screening services in the region for the first time. Proactive hearing screening drives down the age of identification of ear and hearing issues enabling more timely interventions and positive outcomes with treatments. Bungoma County is the fifth largest county in Kenya and has 200,000 children under the age of 5. GFCHL coordinated a 3 day training session with 30 health providers at the hospital on how to use the screening equipment. Screening protocols reporting procedures and a referral process for diagnostics were established. The Bungoma County Referral Hospital is the tertiary level health facility for the region and sees over 1,000 pediatric patients per month. BCRH launched pediatric hearing screening in the NICU and pediatric wards of the hospital in December 2025 and are committed to screening babies and young children indefinitely. It is estimated that 60 children will be confirmed with congenital permanent hearing loss on average each year. Additional children will be identified and proactively treated for ear conditions…

   $13,756 spentof which $10,000 as grants
   6% of program spending

4. GFCHL traveled to Nepal and Kenya separately from project work for program development including planning meetings observations advancing relationships and to explore new opportunities. As a result of these visits the GFCHL will be expanding its initiatives with its Kenyan partners next year.

   $22,961 spent
   10% of program spending

5. Donation of new hearing aids for children in need in Kenya

   $13,396 spentof which $13,136 as grants
   6% of program spending

6. The GFCHL hosted a Cochlear Implant Family Day event in Kenya in collaboration with Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi and the First Lady of Kenyas office. This event was in support of the 50+ families whose children received cochlear implants through the First Ladys program with the Morocco Royal Family. The event supplied information and support to the families they need to help their young children benefit from the hearing technology and develop listening and spoken language skills.

   $2,866 spent
   1% of program spending

7. The GFCHL collaborated with partners in Machakos County Kenya to host an outreach and hearing screening event on March 3 World Hearing Day. We conducted seminars for over 200 teachers and community health workers about pediatric hearing loss. The participants shared the information with their communities and encouraged families to bring their young children to the Wamunyu Health Center for hearing screening during the week of World Hearing Day. The media was engaged.

   $2,769 spentof which $2,769 as grants
   1% of program spending

8. GFCHL began a new collaboration with the Machakos County Referral Hospital in Kenya to retrofit and soundtreat the hospitals audiology room. This was a first step towards enabling the hospital to provide ear and hearing care diagnostic services.

   $5,624 spentof which $5,624 as grants
   2% of program spending

9. Advance deposits towards the first workshop in the GFCHLs second AVT training program in Nairobi in collaboration with the University of Nairobi in November 2026.

   $2,640 spent
   1% of program spending

The 9 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $237,566.