Some fates are particularly moving. Aldo's is no exception: he lived in prison with his mother as a baby and was sent to an orphanage from there. He was deaf from an early age. With such a disability, he would have had no chance of a self-determined life in La Paz. There was no escape from poverty. A life on the streets would probably have been his fate.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Dr. Marius Contzen, Head of Anaesthesia at Heilig Geist Hospital in Bensheim, who has been helping street children in Bolivia since last year as part of the "Hospital Arco Iris" project, seven-year-old Aldo was fitted with a cochlear implant in an operation lasting several hours in cooperation with Mannheim University Hospital. This is a first and important step towards a good future for the little boy. However, Aldo still has a long way to go to catch up on what he has missed out on for seven years in his silent world. We are confident that the bright boy will make his way and will continue to accompany him on his journey.