History of SAHIC

Society for Assistance to Hearing Impaired Children (SAHIC) is a voluntary non-Government Organization established in February 1987 with the aims and objectives of prevention, early detection and rehabilitation of the hearing impaired, specially children along-with the treatment of ear, nose, throat and diseases of the head and neck that may cause hearing impairment.

 

SAHIC is the brain child of Prof. M. Nurul Amin, MBBS (DAC); DLO (Lond); FRCS (Edin), FCPS (BD), PhD (Hony), an eminent ENT Specialist and Medical Teacher. The conception of establishing the Society came from his personal experience about the magnitude of problem of hearing impairment amongst the population in Bangladesh as a practitioner in the Ear Nose and Throat specialty and from the inspiration received from Ms. Rosi Gollmann, President of Andheri Hilfe, e.V. Bonn, a philanthropic Organization of Germany, supporting the prevention and treatment program of BNSB Chittagong since 1973 alongwith over few hundred voluntary Organization in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan in the field of prevention and treatment of blindness, leprosy and poverty alleviation. This was coincided with the UN declaration and WHO resolution passed in the General Assembly of 1986 about the hearing disability and identification of ear infection as the major cause of hearing impairment. According to WHO 65% of the total hearing impairment/deafness are preventable and avoidable.

 

Prof. M.N. Amin as a life member of BNSB Chittagong and a member of the Executive Committee of BNSB, had the opportunity to work closely with Ms. Rosi Gollmann and other important members of the Andheri Hilfe Board since 1973. During this long association, Ms. Rosi Gollmann and the members of Andheri Hilfe Board develop confidence and trust on Prof. Amin as a dedicated and devoted social worker and proposed to support any program he may develop to alleviate sufferings of fellow people of Bangladesh. A written commitment in this regard was given to support the establishment of a Center of excellence at Dhaka and to conduct mobile ear camp with specialist doctors in the remotest places of the country provided a plot of land is provided by the Organizers. With this assurance, Prof. Amin took the initiative to established the Society for Assistance to Hearing Impaired Children (SAHIC) with like minded friends and interested social workers with a personal donation of taka five thousand only towards the Society’s funds and started inducting members and life members for the Society as per constitution approved by the registration authority of People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

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The Society was Registered with the Department of Social Services in the year 1989  to conduct it’s activity in Bangladesh and registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 1990 (Registration number; 398 ) to receive foreign donations.

 

According to the constitution, a fifteen members Executive Committee was formed with Mr. Kafil Uddin Mahmud, as it’s first President and Prof. M. Nurul Amin as General Secretary along with other position in the Executive Committee.  The tenure of Office of the Executive Committee is for two years with provision for Election of the Executive Committee every two years in the Annual General Meeting by the General and Life Members of the Society.

The first Activity of the Society was a Mobile Rural Ear Camp organized at Kaligonj, Gazipur in 1990 with ENT Specialists and supporting staffs to examine and treat patients in the rural environment. CARITAS Bangladesh acted as local Organizer of the camp and Ms. Rosi Gollmann, President, Andheri Hilfe, e.V. Bonn alongwith some Board Members of Andheri Hilfe was present to oversee the conduction of the ear camp in a rural set-up. They were over whelmedly impressed by seeing the spontaneous response of hundreds of people both male and female and lots of children to get the treatment for their ear, nose and throat problems. This ear camp acted as an additional inspiration for the Andheri Hilfe Board members to give approval to the proposal of establishing National Center for Hearing and Speech for Children at Mohakhali, Dhaka. The ear camp program is still continuing by the Society to the benefit of hundreds of thousands of poor people living in the villages.  (Picture of Rosi Gollman and Prof. Amin indivisually and discussing in a meeting  )

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH FOR CHILDREN.

The construction of National Center of Hearing and Speech for Children started on the plot of land donated by the Government at Mohakhali, Dhaka after the approval of the architectural and structural plan for the Center by the appropriate authority of Government of People Republic of Bangladesh and Government of Germany in the year 1991. The construction work alongwith the fittings of necessary equipments and instruments and training of technical personals to operate the equipments was completed in  January 1992 and the Centre was commissioned to functioned with the inauguration by the then Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh on 25th February 1992 . The Center is functioning with reputation both at home and abroad with ever increasing number of patients attending with increase of service facilities. The running cost of the Center was born by Andheri Hilfe e.V. Bonn for eight years from 1990 to 1998. Since then the activities of the Center is run by the Society from it’s own resources. (Nominal fees received from the well to do patients, donation from philanthropic persons and Organizations and annual grant from the Ministry of Health.

 

Rosi Flower Integrated Pre-school for Hearing Impaired Children between the age of 3-6 years. With the detection of more and more children with hearing  impairment and non development of speech who needs special education to avoid disability, a pre-school to give them special education was urgently needed. Andheri Hilfe e.V. Bonn agreed to give financial support to the construction of the school building and equipping it to function and to run it for eight years. Accordingly construction of a school building with capacity to accommodate 160 children was started in the same campus of the Center in October 1993 and completed and inaugurated to function by the then Honorable President of Bangladesh during October 1994. The School is functioning with great reputation with ever increasing number of children seeking admission. The school building has been expanded to accommodate 250 children with the Society’s fund during 2003.

 

SAHIC SUB-CENTER AT CHITTAGONG.

To fulfill the need of the people of Chittagong and around, a sub center was established in a rented house during 1994 with facilities for an out patients department, a hearing test laboratory and a pre school for hearing impaired children. The Sub-Center was transferred to the newly constructed building of SAHIC on a plot of land donated by the ministry of communication for the purpose at Pahartoli, Chittagong during 1999 and functioning successfully since then.

 

SPECIALIZED ENT HOSPITAL OF SAHIC AT MOHAKHALI DHAKA.

With the increased number of patients requiring hospitalized surgical treatment, a 28 bed hospital was established on the first floor of the Center Building (20 General beds and 8 Cabins with a most modern operation theater block with facility to undertake all ear, nose,  throat and  head, neck surgeries with Micro Surgery including Cochlear Implant. 50% of the construction cost along with the instruments and equipments for the Operation Theaters and wards were born by Andheri Hilfe, the Hospital was commissioned to function with the inauguration by the then Honorable President of Bangladesh in the year 1999 with a very satisfactory function to the full satisfaction of us and as well as our foreign guest surgeons visiting the hospital to work almost every year.

Establishment of Speech Therapy Department in the Naitonal Center for Hearing and Speech at Dhaka Center and Chittagong Sub-Center.

To correct the speech defect of hearing impaired children and to provide services to various speech disorders, a speech therapy department was established with qualified and trained speech therapist during 2002 and functioning successfully with increased number of patients day by day.

 

SAHIC GUEST HOUSE 

A guest house to accommodate the guests visiting SAHIC projects, specially the foreign guests (ENT specialist, specialist in the field of Audiology, Speech Therapy, Special Education and Nursing to train the staffs of SAHIC as a volunteer) was felt necessary to reduce the cost of providing home hospitality to them. A guest house was built along with the Garage and kitchen block within the campus from the Society’s own fund in the year 2003. The top two floors of the four storied building, having accommodation for sixteen guests in eight rooms with reasonable facilities for comfortable and safe stay with provision for air condition, attached bath and dinning facilities.

 

To accommodate the ever increasing number of patients attending the Center and the Hospital, the ground floor is going to be converted to out patients and speech therapy department. Thus the office block and the Hearing Testing Laboratory (Audiometry) needs to be shifted to 2nd floor of the Center Building. Accordingly construction is in progress which is expected to be commissioned to function within 2012. The construction of the Second Floor and to furnished them is being done from the Society’s own fund.

 

A proposal is under consideration to construct and equip the 3rd Operation Theater to undertake increased number of operation and construction of a ward block in the 1st floor of the Center building. The construction shall start as soon as the planning by the architect is completed.

 

CHRONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SAHIC PROJECTS:                            STARTED IN                                                                             

Rural Ear Camp

1990

National Centre for Hearing & Speech for Children

1992

Integrated Pre-School for hearing Impaired Children

1994

ChittagongSub-Centre

1996

Specialized ENT Hospital

1999

Speech Therapy Department

2002

Total Communication School for profoundly/totally

 Hearing Impaired Children at Mirpur

2002


Sahic Cultural Activities