The little girl calls everyone “mama” when she meets them. She can only make random sounds and occasionally “calls” Papa and Mama. However, the girl’s mother shook her head and said helplessly that the girl would also call her other relatives mama, which shows that she does not understand the meaning of mama.

“She can’t hear now and can’t go to school. Most of the kindergartens do not want to accept her.”

When the now three-year-old girl, Zhao Woon Rui, turned one, her parents noticed that their daughter seemed to have hearing problems. They tried to scare her by shouting loudly from behind, but she did not react or respond. They brought her to clinics and hospitals for multiple examinations. The doctors initially diagnosed her with delayed speech development and arranged for her to have speech therapy.

【As she cannot express her feelings in words, the girl’s emotion gets affected easily. She also refuses to wear hearing aids】

The girl’s mother, Lee Jee Chien, said that little Woon Rui could not express her thoughts and feelings in words and could only express them through expressions. Therefore, she had a bad temper and would occasionally lie on the ground crying when she could not get what she wanted.

“She can’t express her anger. She can’t tell us when she wants to go to the toilet. She also can’t explain to us what she wants from us. This situation causes her a lot of trouble. Sometimes, she seems to understand what we say. For example, when we asked her to put the dirty clothes she took off into the laundry basket, she would do so.”

She mentioned that after further examination, the doctor diagnosed Woon Rui with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss and needed to wear hearing aids.

“However, she often refuses to wear hearing aids. She will only wear them when she comes into contact with people who are aggressive to her or strangers. If I want to wear them for her, she will lock herself in the room.”

After completing an MRI of the brain and ear canal, the results showed that little Woon Rui was suitable for a unilateral cochlear implant. However, the implantation surgery costs RM84,550, and the parents are helpless as they can’t afford the substantial fees.

【She needs cochlear implantation as soon as possible, but the cost is high, and the family cannot afford it】

Little Woon Rui’s 37-year-old father, Zhao Yue Fei, is from China. His working permit in Malaysia is about to expire. He is not sure about his future after returning to China. He is also unsure if he can earn RM3,500 monthly after that. Her mother, Jee Chien, said she originally planned to find a suitable kindergarten for Woon Rui, but no local kindergarten was willing to accept a child with hearing impairment. This situation might force them to enrol her in a special school with a monthly school fee of over RM800, which is an amount that they cannot afford.

Jee Chien is an administrative clerk with a monthly net income of RM1,850. The family must pay a monthly car loan of RM400, living and miscellaneous expenses of RM1,400, utility bills of nearly RM300, and telephone bills of almost RM300. Not only are they unable to afford the school fees that Woon Rui will need in the future, but they also do not have enough savings to pay for the cochlear implantation.

To prevent her learning and growth from being affected by hearing impairment, One Hope Charity conducted a home visit and reviewed the case after receiving the application from Woon Rui’s parents. One Hope Charity decided to assist them in raising RM84,550 for cochlear implantation. Her family agreed to fully authorise One Hope Charity to take charge of the fundraising and collect donations from the well-wishers on their behalf. Call One Hope Charity’s hotline at 04-539 9212, 016-419 2192, 019-232 2192 or 018-911 4192 if you have questions.