Mustafa is the Iraqi boy brought to the US for a cochlear ear implant by Ruth Group and Bay Area friends of No More Victims. After several weeks of testing and getting comfortable with his new surroundings the operation was performed in early February. The video shows his progress, as described below.

On February 24, 2009, Mustafa had a follow-up appointment with the audiologist to test his newly calibrated cochlear device. After the audiologist showed Mustafa that he could put the toy in the hole when he heard a sound, he learned quickly and showed a good response. In this very short video, you’ll see him listening and then placing the toy upon hearing a sound. His timing really demonstrated that sounds were being heard each time. And now he has begun the early stages of speech therapy at the Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California. In less than 2 months since their arrival from Iraq (via Jordan), Mustafa is hearing again.

Even more movingly, for the first time, when showed a picture of his father, Mustafa was able to hear, associate and repeat “Pa Pa.” Except for Mustafa who was entirely blase about his accomplisment, there was not a dry eye in the room.