Dr. Mary Kay Uchmanowicz hears a call and answers

She brings hearing aids to the needy children of Argentina

By AMANDA K. LOWE Valley Breeze & Observer Correspondent

SMITHFIELD - May is National Better Speech and Hearing Month and a local audiologist is starting off the month with an inspirational story.

Dr. Mary Kay Uchmanowicz, of Twin Rivers Hearing Health Inc. in Smithfield, recently traveled to Argentina to donate her services to benefit children in need.

Dr. Mary Kay, as she is known by her patients, has been an audiologist for 28 years and has owned her own practice for 18 years. She recently joined a contingent of 100 U.S. hearing professionals who donated their time and service to benefit children at the Mutualidad Argentina de Hipoacusios, a Buenos Aires based nonprofit agency caring for Argentina's neediest population.

"I try and go on these missions every two years," Uchmanowicz said. "It is part of what I feel I need to do. It is my way of giving back."

The most recent mission, which took place in early March, is the third humanitarian mission for Uchmanowicz. This is the first year in which she partnered with a hearing aid company.

Hearing aid manufacturer Oticon, Inc. donated the hearing instruments to enable the volunteer team to care for the children in Argentina, Uchmanowicz said.

"This was the first year that I did the partnership," Uchmanowicz said. "Usually I go on my own and use my own donated hearing aids. It was a very specialized mission. We targeted children who were profoundly deaf. Because it was such a large scale mission the children will be followed. When I did it on my own it was hard for me to keep track of the children's progress."

Uchmanowicz and the other volunteers provided hearing care and instruments to more than 100 children from a local school for the deaf. Over the coming months, the Multualidad Argentina de Hipoacusicos audiologists will continue the care of the children fitted with the Oticon hearing instruments, following their progress and adjusting the instruments to best suit the needs of each child, according to Uchmanowicz.

She said she worked throughout the day in Argentina to insure that each of the 100 children received individual care and attention.

"The experience was very rewarding," Uchmanowicz said. "It was great to see the smiles on the children's faces as they heard sounds for the first time ever. They would look around bewildered at all the sounds they were hearing. They even started to mimic sounds and words. It was hard to tell who was more excited, the children or their parents. They were all so appreciative. Their happiness and the gratitude of their parents made the entire experience a joyous one for us as well."

Uchmanowicz, who treats children and adults in her Smithfield practice, said she is in the process of planning more large scale missions such as this one and missions for her to attend on her own. She is looking for donations of children's hearing aids.

"When I do the missions, I use many donated recycled hearing aids," Uchmanowicz said. "I'm in need of children's hearing aids. People have been great about donating hearing aids for adults but we really need more hearing aids for children. I can't do these missions without the donations. We have so much here in the United States that we really need to give back to other countries. Everyone complains about rising prices in the United States but there are some places where people can't even afford to feed their children never mind provide them with hearing aids."

For more information on donating hearing aids, contact Dr. Mary Kay Uchmanowicz at Twin Rivers Hearing Health at 349-0456.

Uchmanowicz will also be hosting an educational lecture about a new hearing device which improves three-dimensional listening and wireless communication to cell phones and other Bluetooth technology.

She will also talk about her experience in Argentina and the work of Oticon.

The event is free and will be held on Thursday, May 29 at 11 a.m. at Twelve Acres, 445 Douglas Pike in Smithfield.

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