Paddy's Jewel

OUR HISTORY

Paddy's Jewel's history began back in 2006 when Mái McCann first came to Hoi An as a volunteer. In a short space of time, she realized that there were many hearing-impaired children in Hội An, yet there was no education provided for them. This is where Paddy's Jewel has found a niche.

In Việt Nam there are approximately 180,000 children, under the age of eighteen, with hearing loss. There are very limited numbers of schools available for hearing impaired children in Việt Nam. While hearing testing at birth is not common, coupled with the limited access to modern audiology technology, early intervention is difficult to carry out.

For the vast majority of hearing impaired children in Việt Nam, education is not a possibility. This leads to social isolation, a lifetime of poverty and a very poor sense of self-worth, and yet so little effort is required to help even just one child.

OUR MISSION AND BELIEF

Paddy's Jewel was established to tackle the previously mentioned issues. With the aim of assisting hearing impaired children in Việt Nam, the project was founded, in 2008, by Mái McCann who firmly believes that all children deserve an education. In such a short space of time, we have been privileged to watch the changes that have occurred in these young lives. It is our Belief that we should all "Pay It Forward" to those in greater need than ourselves. Paddy's Jewel Mission is to provide a high quality education to hearing impaired children in Hội An, to assist the children to become integral members of their community and to raise awareness and understanding of the difficulties hearing impaired children and their families face on a daily basis.