November 7, 2025
Tzu Chi receives 300 hearing aids, audiometer-tympanometer machine
By Joy Rojas
Days after witnessing the turnover and fitting of donated hearing aids to 14 beneficiaries, Australia-based couple Rotary PDG Danny Low and Dr. Angeline Low returned to the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus (BTCC) in Sta. Mesa, Manila, to present 300 hearing aids to Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez in an Ear and Hearing Wellness Project on November 6.
For 30 years, the Lows have distributed hearing aids to charitable institutions and communities in Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, and most recently the Philippines. The devices, new and slightly used, were sourced from corporate partners who would rather see them go to indigent patients than be discarded or resold.
On hand as well was otorhinolaryngologist and audiologist Dr. Joyce Rodvie Sagun, who donated a screening audiometer and tympanometer and other accessories. Sagun, who first worked with Tzu Chi during World Hearing Day in 2024, received the equipment from a grant following her attendance of the Coalition of Global Hearing Health in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, where she presented a paper and facilitated a workshop.
A screening audiometer is used to measure a patient’s ability to hear and detect hearing loss, while a tympanometer tests the function of the middle ear, whose role is to transmit sound waves from the external environment to the inner ear. The 2-in-1 machine is portable and can be used in medical missions and other hearing screenings outside of BTCC.
The donations from the Lows and Sagun will help bolster the Hearing Screening service of Tzu Chi’s ENT Clinic, located at the Synergy Hall of BTCC. Launched in August, the ENT Clinic features an audiology booth and diagnostic audiometer.
The equipment will also prepare ENT specialists in serving a larger population of hearing-impaired patients once the planned Tzu Chi General Hospital is up and running years from now.
With vital equipment in place, Sagun has a new goal for Tzu Chi’s ENT Clinic: to encourage audiologists and ENT doctors to volunteer regularly at Tzu Chi’s Free Clinic and its medical missions. “So we can cater to more patients,” she said.
(From left) Dr. Angeline Low, Tzu Chi CEO Henry Yuñez, Rotary PDG Danny Low, otorhinolaryngologist and audiologist Dr. Joyce Rodvie Sagun, and audiologist Kristine Layson gather together for the turnover of hearing aids, screening audiometer and tympanometer, and other accessories.
Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez (left) presents Rotary PDG Danny Low with a copy of Tzu Chi’s 25th anniversary book, “A Mission of Love.”
Approximately 300 hearing aids from Rotary PDG Danny Low and Dr. Angeline Low, and a screening audiometer and tympanometer and other accessories from Dr. Joyce Rodvie Sagun were donated to Tzu Chi’s ENT Clinic.
The hearing aids from the Low couple range from brand new to slightly used but still in good working condition.
The portable screening audiometer and tympanometer can be used in Tzu Chi’s medical missions and other hearing screenings outside of BTCC.