Woman's volunteer work has given the gift of hearing to thousands of people in remote areas

After a short rest during the National Day holiday, Li Haibing began to prepare for her fourth visit to the Tibet autonomous region in two years.

She is neither a travel enthusiast nor a pilgrim. However, the 46-year-old from Harbin, Heilongjiang province, is skilled in fitting hearing aids for people with hearing difficulties, which has taken her to poverty-stricken areas around China.

In 2017, Li gained certificates from Jiangsu province's Human Resources and Social Security Department that qualified her as a professional hearing-aid fitter.

"Soon after getting the certificates, I was invited to join in a public welfare project that provided 2,000 hearing aids to the impoverished elderly in Shanghai for free," she said.

"When I was told that due to the lack of hearing-aid professionals the project didn't run smoothly, I agreed without any hesitation."

She spent 18 days with six other hearing-aid fitters visiting a dozen villages around Shanghai and testing more than 10,000 seniors who had various levels of hearing difficulties.

"Because of the large number of patients, we had to work from morning till night," she said. "Finally, we chose the 2,000 most eligible for assistance and fitted hearing aids for them.

"I remember an old woman couldn't help singing and dancing after her fitting," Li said.

"She told me that she had been in a world of silence for more than 10 years, but she never thought she could afford a hearing aid that cost up to 10,000 yuan (1,430 USD)."

Li said she was excited that such a small device could bring great joy into a person's life.

Long history

Her association with hearing aids goes back 14 years. In 2005, Li quit her job selling clothes and became a salesperson in a hearing aid store in Harbin.

"In fact, I knew nothing about the structure of the ear and hearing aids at that time," she said.

"I couldn't even clearly answer customers' questions, so I failed to sell any devices in the first three months."

Determined to succeed, she began to pay close attention to the hearing-aid fitter in the store when he served the customers, taking notes on important aspects.

She also bought lots of technical books on hearing aids and read after work.

Gradually, Li became so familiar with the small device that she became the best salesperson in the store.

But after she gained her certification in 2017 and took part in the Shanghai project, she found her volunteer work as a hearing-aid fitter was taking up more of her time.

Li said she received invitations to go to Gansu, Yunnan and Shanxi provinces, Tibet and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region for similar government-funded projects.

"I always tried everything to coordinate my schedule and participate in them," she said.

In July, 2017, she was invited to Chamdo in Tibet.

"It was my first time in Tibet and I didn't make any preparations before departure," she said.

"I was sent to the hospital immediately after getting off the plane because of serious altitude sickness, including a severe headache and difficulty breathing."

Despite her great discomfort, she started work with her companions early the next morning after several hours of oxygen treatment in the hospital.

Over two weeks, they tested more than 800 patients, from children to the elderly, and fitted 200 hearing aids.

"Because of travel inconvenience, some of them had to spend several days on the way to downtown Chamdo," she said.

"When I saw the room full of people waiting anxiously, I forgot all the physical discomfort and only wanted to do more for them."

A special case

Among them was a 9-year-old girl, who made a deep impression on Li.

Born deaf into an impoverished household, the girl was only able to communicate through simple gestures.

Her parents had sought treatment in different hospitals after she was diagnosed, but gave up due to the high cost.

"She had missed the best age to recover her hearing. After checking, I found she still couldn't hear any sound," she said. "In this case, a hearing aid was completely useless."

However, when Li saw the look of expectation and hope in the eyes of the girl and her mother, she changed her mind and did not tell them the bad news. Instead, she conducted another test.

"I adjusted the hearing aid over and over again and finally detected a reaction when I spoke to her," she said. "It meant that she could hear."

Li immediately started giving the girl speech training.

"I will never forget the moment when she said 'Mama' for the first time, even though she didn't have standard pronunciation," she said.

To have more free time, Li quit her sales job and opened her own hearing-aid store in July last year. But for more than half the year, she is away from home doing volunteer work.

"It was obvious to see the loss of customers when I was not in the store, but I have no regrets," she said. "Helping those who need urgent help is more important than earning money."