Miss South Africa, Mia le Roux, and the Miss South Africa Organisation have announced their partnership with the Dis-Chem Foundation to assist hearing impaired individuals unable to afford hearing devices.

Through a statement released on Thursday, this partnership will see cochlear implants given to a number of hearing impaired individuals who cannot afford the life-altering device.

The Gift of Hearing forms part of Le Roux’s advocacy campaign, the Mia Le Roux Movement, a platform dedicated to advocating for deaf people in South Africa while also raising awareness about all forms of exclusion.

Cochlear implants directly stimulate the part of the ear that doesn’t work or is damaged by using a mild electrical current. It can benefit adults and children with severe hearing loss who cannot understand speech even with powerful hearing aids. Hearing loss is regarded as one of the worlds’ most treatable disabilities with medical technology making it possible to restore hearing for many by means of a cochlear implant.

Diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of one, Le Roux received her cochlear a year later. Reflecting on this pivotal moment in her life, Le Roux says: “It took a further two years of speech therapy and continued repetition of words before I looked up to the sky one day and said my first four words: ‘Kyk daar, wit wolke – look there, white clouds’.”

She continues: “I am delighted with this partnership – it is particularly apt ahead of World Hearing Day on March 3 – and I am pleased that we will be continuing to raise awareness around the issue. It isn’t simply about the operation but also about sustainability and providing support in the years that follow.”

Le Roux will also be announcing the partnership in a TV commercial aired during the broadcast of Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) this Sunday (February 16) between 19h00 and 20h05.