In 2023 the employees of OnlineHearingaids.com will travel to Nepal. Together with local activists, they will host a “Week of Hearing” there. We don’t only go to Nepal. The idea is the result of a mission, we have for 45 years.
Read about the history of the family business Makker and the mission the family follows for a long time
“Everyone should be able to hear well”, with this quote Michel Makker decided to train as an audiologist as a young man. Over time, more goals were added. Now, 45 years later, he can look back on an impressive history of success – a history made even more complete by the developments of OnlineHearingaids.com. OnlineHearingaids.com is an initiative of Michel Makker and his three sons. They are all audiologists and have been helping hearing-impaired people for more than 30 years by advising, purchasing, and fitting the proper hearing aids. All this is (now) 100% online at OnlineHearingaids.com.
Our story
Over time not only our number of stores increased, but also the family business grows through the strengths of the sons Gijs, Just and Guido. They follow in the footsteps of their father Michel Makker, who was in the business as a hearing aid acoustician.
Every son has his own focus:
Gijs Makker uses his knowledge and passion to keep up with the fast-changing developments in the market. “This way, we can always offer the best hearing solution to our customers”.
Just Makker added: “Through our work, we have a social responsibility. Everybody with hearing problems should be able to experience optimal hearing.”
Guido Makker specialized in the adjustments of hearing aids for children. “In our profession, it is very important to put yourself in the position of the customer”, he says.
Our goal
As a family-owned business, we work on our vision since 1998: “Good hearing for everyone”. But what did we contribute over all these years?
- Over 130 people educated in Audiometry
- It all starts with better education. That is why we teach audiometry and show people all over the world how to do hearing tests, create earpieces and fix hearing aids by themselves.
- Over 2,000 donated hearing aids
- For every sold hearing aid, we donate to the Nepal Foundation for Better Hearing Worldwide. Over the last few years, we made contributions to other projects, donating hearing aids to faraway countries.
- Helped more than a thousand people in Third World countries to better hearing
- The combination of donated hearing aids and education makes good hearing accessible.
1998
Kenia: Project of the Eardrop Foundation
As per the methods of Oxfam Novib the effect of our “better education” begins. In cooperation with the Eardrop Foundation we taught audiometry and showed people, how to to do hearing tests, create earpieces and fix hearing aids by themselves.This initiative targeted children with poor hearing.
2002
Indonesia Project at the Bertha-Muller-School with a former teacher
For this project, we collected hearing aids for two schools for the hearing impaired in Indonesia. This was achieved through a combination of materials for producing ear prints and batteries for hearing aids. This project was executed in cooperation with a former teacher of the Bertha-Muller School in Utrecht, today Auris-Fortaal-School in Utrecht.
2023
Audiology-Journey to Nepal
In March 2023, two employees from OnlineHearingaids.com and an ENT will travel to Nepal. Together with local activists, they will organize a hearing week there. During this hearing week, they will journey to another village every day. The locals are asked to report if they have hearing problems. Our hearing aid acousticians will do hearing tests, adjust hearing aids and donate hearing aids to the locals in need. All this is possible thanks to the customers of OnlineHearingaids.com. Because OnlineHearingaids.com donates to the foundation for every order placed on our website.
What is the Nepal-Project Child Welfare Organisation Nepal (CWON)?
To make life in the poorest areas of Chitwan in Nepal better and make the people more tolerant through the following actions.
Facilities for clean water
They do this by building hand pumps, digging wells or, if necessary, drilling fountains and wells.
Medical Help/Hygiene
Occasional help is afforded when needed. Other actions are planned and prepared in cooperation with local doctors. Furthermore, we provide clarification about hygiene and birth control.
Support, development, and building of schools
They encourage parents, to send their kids to school. For many poor families, this isn’t possible because of financial reasons. If that is the case, they try to help the children financially.
Courses for planting vegetables, cattle farming, reading and writing
In poor areas, children sometimes have to walk many kilometers to get to school. That is the case especially in isolated regions, where the danger of wild animal attacks or muggings by bad people is always present. We build schools in those regions and look for good teachers.