Every morning, Tirhas Gezai Gerezgiher wakes early to begin her five-kilometre walk to Werera Primary School in Chilla Woreda, northern Ethiopia. She is determined and careful not to forget putting on hearing aids behind her ears - small devices that have quietly transformed how she moves through the world.
Tirhas can hear the world now
She’s 12 years old now. At home in Tabia Awet, her father lives with a chronic illness that keeps him mostly indoors. The family has long struggled to afford even basic needs. Specialised healthcare was never something they thought they could reach - especially for a hearing impairment no one knew how to fix.
Before the hearing aids, school was a quiet struggle. Tirhas watched her classmates speak, but the words never came through clearly. Sometimes she guessed, often she just gave up. Making friends was hard when conversations slipped past unheard. Some days she sat quietly, withdrawn. Other days, frustration built up until it showed.
Through the FCDO-UNICEF-funded Education Response for Conflict-Affected Children in Tigray, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) identified and supported children with disabilities in 20 pre-primary and primary schools across Maekelay Adyabo and Chilla Woredas. In partnership with SEN Ethiopia and Axum University, specialists assessed students and prioritised those in need of targeted support.
Tirhas was one of them. She was referred to a specialised facility where tests confirmed the extent of her hearing loss. She was fitted with bilateral hearing aids. When the devices were switched on, she smiled, just standing there, listening.
Back in class, things changed. She raised her hand with confidence. She joined in discussions. She started making friends. Her teachers watched her grow - not just in her studies, but in how she carried herself.
Her father saw the change too.
“We could not afford any medical support for her condition,” he says. “When Tirhas received the hearing aid, I saw the happiness on her face, and I felt hope again as a father.”
Hundreds of children across Tigray’s Maekelay Adyabo and Chilla Woredas have been reached through NRC’s inclusive education programme. Some received hearing aids, others glasses, mobility aids, or specialised support. Teachers were trained to help make classrooms more accessible to every child.
Tirhas’s mornings haven’t changed much. The walk is still long, the hills still steep. But now, the birds along the path sound clearer. She hears footsteps behind her. And when her friends call her name from up ahead, she hears them.
The road is the same. But the journey sounds different now.
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