RIYADH — "I welcomed these children as if they were angels or doves of peace. I embraced them and was overwhelmed with joy to see the end of these children's suffering," says Saudi speech and language therapist Ashwaq Al-Qahtani. She is working with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) while carrying out its humanitarian drive in terms of conducting operations of hearing impaired Syrian children in the border region between Turkey and Syria. She shared her feelings of motherhood and compassion while embracing these children before undergoing cochlear implants operations. Speaking to Al-Arabiya.net about that experience, Al-Qahtani said: "We continued to work for 18 hours a day, as the medical staff worked with love and passion amidst the joy that overwhelmed the hearts of mothers once their children's sense of "hearing" was restored. The feelings were indescribable, and the receptions were heartwarming, especially when the child started listening for the first time. The children were crying as soon as they started hearing voices and their reactions were mixed between crying, astonishment, and surprise. Their feeling was that of joy and excitement when the device was activated, she said while noting that all the 30 cochlear implant operations were successful. Al-Qahtani said that all these children will reach the degree of normal hearing, especially after certain stages, while follow-up is still ongoing from the Audiology and Rehabilitation Department under KSrelief. "Communication from my part will continue with the speech-language pathologists who work in the same location," she said. It is noteworthy that this initiative is an extension of the volunteer medical projects provided by Saudi Arabia through its humanitarian arm, the KSrelief, to help needy and affected peoples and countries around the world. Ever since the beginning of the campaign on the Syria -Turkish border region, the KSrelief's volunteer medical team has examined 638 individuals and performed 30 surgical operations in the field of cochlear implantation, all of which were crowned with success. All these rare operations were the first of their kind carried out within the framework of volunteering medical projects, in addition to 10 other nose, ear, and throat surgeries, besides distribution of 130 hearing aids, and follow-up and post-operative rehabilitation programs. This initiative also emanates from Saudi Arabia's pioneering humanitarian role towards the international community in various parts of the world, and its awareness of the importance of this role in alleviating the suffering of humanity, so that the individual can lead a dignified life. It is under the guidance of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman the KSrelief was established and its work depends on sublime humanitarian principles based on providing aid to the needy and relief to the afflicted people in various parts of the world.
