Turkey provides hearing aid for 7-year-old Afghan kid

By Abdullah Soylemez

AGRI, Turkey (AA) - Turkish Red Crescent helped a 7-year-old deaf-mute Afghan child to regain her ability after she lost hearing during an explosion near her house.

Bibi Zainab Sadad, the elder daughter of 35-year-old engineer Seyed Obeydullah Sadad and 25-year-old mathematics teacher Toba Sadad, was just one year old when she profoundly lost her hearing due to an explosion near their house in capital Kabul in Afghanistan.

Thousands of people have lost their lives in the raging Afghan conflict in the past 18 years as it forced millions to flee their homes, leaving thousands injured.

After exhausting all solutions in their war-torn country, the Sadad family left everything behind and began a long and weary journey to Turkey.

"We came here because there is a shortage of doctors and hospitals in Afghanistan," father Seyed said.

Traveling for days on foot, they reached Turkey's eastern Agri province over Iran. They have been living in Agri for a year now.

"When my daughter was born, there were bombs exploding everywhere. After one of those explosions, blood started to come out of my daughter's ears and she could not speak or hear after that," Seyed told Anadolu Agency.

He said their daughter started to hear again with the hearing aid she received from the Turkish Red Crescent.

"When she put the hearing aid in her ear, her reaction was worth to see," said Orhan Tatli, the Agri head of Turkish Red Crescent.