Paige Stringer Returns to Vietnam
Paige Stringer, MA, MPH, Founder & Executive Director of GFCHL tells CIICA about the importance of their programme in Vietnam and other low-resource countries.
“A visit to Vietnam in 2008 changed the course of my life. It was there that I became aware of the severe global shortage of expertise and support services needed to help babies and young children with hearing loss learn to listen, speak, and thrive. As someone who personally benefited from early identification and early intervention services when I was a baby, I know the profound impact these services have on a child’s life and future.
In many low-resource countries, children born with hearing loss are unable to develop spoken language—not because of a lack of potential, but because of gaps in the Continuum of Care. In 2009, I founded the Global Foundation For Children With Hearing Loss (GFCHL) to help address this issue.
Our first program launched in Vietnam in 2009. The GFCHL’s volunteer professional team devoted a decade teaching the GFCHL’s curriculum in the country to hundreds of Vietnamese teachers, physicians, audiologists, technicians, therapists, and families. We prepared them to share their knowledge with others to make the benefits exponential and sustainable.
The GFCHL equipped the Vietnamese with the necessary expertise, tools, and resources to help their babies and young children with hearing loss to listen and speak. Graduates of our training programs applied their new skills to create services, conduct outreach, and administer care to families of babies and very young children with hearing loss in their country.
Last week, I returned to Vietnam for the first time since 2019. I was grateful to reconnect with many Vietnamese professionals who enthusiastically shared how they have benefited from the GFCHL’s efforts.
One such beneficiary, Sister Thuy, established the first early intervention center in her province for children with hearing aids and cochlear implants in 2015 after completing the GFCHL’s training programs. The center’s curriculum is based entirely on the GFCHL’s teachings. The GFCHL donated new audiology equipment and classroom supplies to support the program.
The center provides critical audiology, therapy, and preschool education for over 70 children each year. Their staff counsels families and prepares these children for integration into mainstream schools……”
To read the remainder of this story please click here.
To read more about the work of GFCHL in Vietnam, click here.
15 May 2025
