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Now she can hear, everything she can see belongs to her

A short film made by Sonova shows the magical moments and the joy of hearing experienced by a little girl called Praise during an afternoon beside Lake Malawi. Her hearing aids make her a part of the world around her. The author Nadja Einzmann was caught up in Praise’s enthusiasm and has transformed it into…

A short film made by Sonova shows the magical moments and the joy of hearing experienced by a little girl called Praise during an afternoon beside Lake Malawi. Her hearing aids make her a part of the world around her. The author Nadja Einzmann was caught up in Praise’s enthusiasm and has transformed it into poetry.

 

And the lake hurled itself at the beach, sending a thousand tiny coils of spray dancing along the shoreline, and all at once, it belonged just to her. And she stamped her feet in the waves, leaning into the wind that pressed her blue dress against her legs, the breeze catching the skirt and billowing it out in every direction as she turned that way and this. Since she’s been able to hear, the waves have changed, the wind is different – and even the warm, plump sand feels transformed beneath her bare feet. Today, on this amazing day, the sand cannot make her feel small, the wind cannot unsettle her, and the lake, this legendary lake covering a fifth of Malawi, her home country, can throw out as much raging surf as it likes, stretch to the moon and back – she will not be intimidated. Before she could hear, she was as that tiny island, obscured by trees, peeping out of the water like a speck in the distance. Now she can hear, everything she can see belongs to her. On this special day, Lake Malawi, with all its fish, its sandy and rocky shores, its islands, inhabited and uninhabited, and the fishing boats that are just heading for home as dusk begins to fall – all these are hers and hers alone. And there is her mother, in her beautiful, yellow Sunday dress, and there the sky, slowly turning to twilight, and the red flag in animated conversation with the wind, and the palm trees, swaying gently as the wind coaxes a whisper from their leaves.

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The author, Nadja Einzmann, who was born in 1974 and now lives in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, has published poetry and two volumes of short stories.

Her tales explore feelings both great small, and her sensitively crafted portraits shine a light not only on the lives of those around us, but also on our own lives – and life itself.

“Praise’s facial expressions and gestures tell you so much; her face, her entire body radiates such contentment and inspirational joie de vivre. It was a delight to enter into her world .”

 

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Praise Kalima was born in 2009 and lives with her parents in the little village of Mponela, not far from Lilongwe, the Malawian capital.
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When Praise began to have problems with learning to speak in the first years of her life because of her hearing loss, her parents took her to the ABC Hearing Clinic in Lilongwe.
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There, she was fitted with hearing aids manufactured by the Sonova brand Phonak in 2015. These had been donated by the Hear the World Foundation, a Sonova Group initiative. The support afforded the ABC Hearing Clinic by the Hear the World Foundation is just part of a comprehensive aid project that plays a key role in the provision of audiological care throughout the country.
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Thanks to her hearing aids, Praise was able to learn to speak, as well as make friends. She now goes to a normal school.
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“Before she could hear, she was like a tiny island, obscured by trees, peeping out of the water like a speck in the distance”
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“Since she’s been able to hear, the waves have changed, the wind is different”
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“And there is her mother, in her beautiful, yellow Sunday dress…”
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“And all at once, the lake belonged just to her…”