Supporters from around the world come together in St. Paul, Minnesota for 15th annual So The World May Hear Awards Gala in 2015. [Photo/starkeyhearingfoundation.org]

Fifth-grader Xie Wen'an lost his hearing at an early age. Although he went to school with other children, he had a difficult time making friends and understanding lessons. But after receiving hearing aids from the Starkey Hearing Foundation, he found that he could hear teachers clearly, even at a normal volume.

"So the World May Hear" is a global charity project by the Starkey Hearing Foundation, providing medical aid, hearing aids and other assistance to needy people around the world. The Foundation has donated nearly one million hearing aids worldwide and helped thousands of Chinese hearing-impaired people. With people-to-people diplomacy and innovation, the project has become a model for international charity.

Perfect Match

Compared with traditional aid models, modern charity initiatives solve social problems with the help of new technologies and concepts.

In 2011, Tao Siliang, president of the Audiology Development Foundation of China, flew to the U.S. to meet the directors of Starkey Hearing Technologies. She had heard about them through Wan Xuanrong, whose struggle against deafness inspired the movie Breaking the Silence.

Founded in 1967 by Bill Austin, Starkey Hearing Technologies produces hearing aids and distributes them in 32 countries, generating US $7 billion per year. In 1973, Austin established the Starkey Hearing Foundation to benefit the hearing impaired worldwide. The Foundation has reached over 50 countries, but China was not among them.

During her meeting with Austin, Tao asked why his team had come to the Middle East and India, but not China. Austin answered that he hadn't found any suitable partners in China.

"Then work with me!" Tao responded with enthusiasm. "I'm committed to helping the hearing-impaired, and you are the largest producer of hearing aids in the U.S. There are more than 20 million hearing-impaired people in China. Why don't you join us?"

After an energetic meeting, Tao and Austin established "So the World May Hear" to help people in China free of charge. Two months later, Austin and his wife visited Xi'an and decided to begin their charitable mission there the following year.