Elvis Odhiambo still remembers the bell in his hand. At just seven years old, it was his job to announce class time at his nursery school in Kisumu. The ringing bell was his favourite sound, his way of signaling the world.

Then one night, everything changed. A sharp pain pierced his ear. Days later, silence fell. He was hospitalised for three months, but doctors couldn’t give a clear diagnosis. When Elvis was finally discharged, he had lost his hearing and his mother, who died during his stay in hospital. It was a double blow that would shape his life forever. “I didn’t know what would happen to me,” he says. “I had no motivation to do anything.”

Hearing loss affects millions globally—and in many cases, silently. According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), 15 per cent of people aged five and above, about 7.5 million, experience difficulty with at least one function: seeing, hearing, communication, cognition, walking, or self-care.