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NewsletterVolume 1August 2003

In June of this year Rotary International approved the formation of the International Fellowship of Rotarians Affected by Hearing Loss, IFRAHL. This was made possible by the support of DG J. Ross White, 5020 Washington/British Columbia, DG Surgeon Y.C. Tsai, 3520 Taiwan, and DG Desmond C. Hosking, 9800 Australia. The Fellowship was organized by three members of the Rotary Club of Clover Park, Lakewood, Washington, all Past Presidents, one of whom who has severe hearing loss. The Fellowship formation came from the establishment of a committee at the Clover Park Rotary Club that is dedicated to create awareness of the disability of hearing loss and to raise funds for research. Clover Park Rotary was the first US Rotary Club to sign on in supporting the International MS Fellowship which was formed in Australia. Currently Dr. David Cotant, Secretary Treasure of IFRAHL is also serving as Vice Chairman of the MS Fellowship. This experience underlined the possibilities and the need to also address hearing loss on the Rotary World Wide Web. IFRAHL will operate this web site that will serve as a clearing house for a multiple amount of information regarding hearing loss and the research to restore hearing loss. Clover Park Rotary has formed a partnership with the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington. Scientists there are responsible for discovering that birds and chicks regain their hearing after loss by regeneration of the hair cells in the inner ear. Rotarians can access the Virginia Merrill site on this web site and gain more information on the research that is ongoing at the center. IFRAHL are optimistic that many Rotarians affected by hearing loss will support this fellowship by joining and contributing. Rotary has made significant contributions to Polio and other diseases worldwide so we are confident that Rotarians will also see the importance of helping 600 million worldwide who suffer from various degrees of hearing loss. There is hope, and it is just around the corner.

Clover Park Rotary is funding a major video production

The Rotary Club of Clover Park has agreed to fund a major video production to profile the disability of hearing loss and the research to restore hearing loss. The Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center is the world’s leading research facility that is dedicated to the regeneration of the hair cells in the inner ear. Dr. Edwin Rubel is credited with simultaneously discovering that birds and chicks regain their hearing in just 28 days after loss. Their research is dedicated to find out why mammals do not regenerate their hearing after loss. Some progress in this question has been made with mice. Three members of the Clover Park Rotary Club and the research team at VMBHRC are now working with a Seattle studio to prepare the script and film ideas. CPR has pledged $15,000 initially and is in the process of raising an equal amount by next year to help pay for the production. Contributions are welcome and will be credited and noted on the film trailer. The Video will be released to major television stations, Dateline, 20/20, 60 Minutes and a number of Rotary Districts as funds allow for shipping and reproduction. For a modest donation to cover costs and shipping, individuals and Rotary Clubs can acquire the video. We eventually will install it on the IFRAHL web site for viewing. The purpose of the video and goal is to raise the necessary funds ($10Million US) for the Hearing Regeneration Initiative. You can access the VMBHRC site and read about the HRI.

Clover Park Rotary PowerPoint Program

Clover Park Rotary in partnership with Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center has produced a 25 minute PowerPoint program that explains hearing loss, present statistics, and current help available with hearing devices and an explanation of the hearing research to regenerate the inner ear hair cells. So far the members at Clover Park Rotary who are presenting the programs have traveled to nine clubs in the 5020 District in Western Washington. They also have made one presentation to the Lakewood First Lions Club. Lions are very active in sight and hearing projects and we hope they will join us in our projects. Earlier this year Dr. Rubel of VMBHRC gave a talk before District 5020 members at the annual Conference held this year in Nanaimo, B.C. In all cases, the reception and interest has been very good. Rotarians interested in presenting this program in their own Districts can contact us at IFRAHL@aol.com and for a $25 donation we will ship it anywhere in the US. Please send $35US for outside the US.

Writing your Congress Representatives can help

In the United States, Federal Funding for sight receives almost three times the amount that hearing research receives. We think it should be equal. The number of people who are deaf and hard of hearing in just the United States is far greater than those with impaired sight. The Congressional Hearing Caucus is a powerful influence on how the National Institutes of Health approaches funding for various research and medical institutions. Check and see if your representatives are on the Congressional Hearing Caucus and if not write and encourage them to do so. We did in Washington State and Rep. Adam Smith joined immediately and wrote to us and thanked us for reminding him to do so. Browse our web site for information so you will know how to encourage your own Representatives and Senators to investigate hearing disability and the problems that go with it. In the US, $60 billion annually is lost in our economy for medical, loss of production, etc. because of hearing loss. This staggering amount alone is enough reason for our government to get busy on hearing loss.

Humanitarian Work is Important

One Rotarian we have come in contact with who is doing wonderful work on the humanitarian side of this issue is Dr. Rejandra Desai. Dr. Desai is a Rotarian and member of the Balboa-Peninsula, California. He has formed Project Deaf India and you can browse his web site which is presented on the front page of this web site. Dr. Desai has made frequent trips to villages in India and has received some 3-H grants in the past from the Rotary Foundation. He had an article published in the Rotarian describing his work in India two years ago which you can access on his site. We have put him in touch with Dr. Rubel at Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center and they have exchanged slides in their individual presentations to further promote their work and reach a larger audience. We encourage you to visit Dr. Desai’s site.

Acknowledging our partners

We would be remiss if we closed our first newsletter and didn’t mention some partners who believe in our project strongly enough to make major contributions. We acknowledge and thank them here.

Clover Park Rotary $15,000  
Dolph JaegerPoulsbo
Rotary Club		1000  
Poulsbo-North Kitsap
Rotary Club		  500  
Ward FletcherLakewood
Rotary Club		300 CDN

We hope you will join this worthy endeavor. Your contributions will go directly towards the completion of our video and then to the VMBHRC for research only. Perhaps you have some ideas on how we can raise the necessary $10Million needed to fund the Hearing Regeneration Initiative? We will appreciate your suggestions and ideas. We will also attempt to answer any of your questions relating to hearing loss and restoration. You can give us some needed encouragement by joining our fellowship today. We are hoping that the $10 annual dues will defray most of the cost of operating this web site each year. We have 100% membership from the Clover Park Rotary Club. Please join us.

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