Help Constantine Hear!

Help Constantine Hear!

Constantine is a twelve-year-old Orthodox Christian boy who lives in Athens, Greece, with his mother Theodora, and his older sister and brother. He is an intelligent, devout, boy who applies himself to his academics and in his faith. He loves the Chinese language and is studying to learn to speak and write. He gets up very early every Sunday so that he can be in Church bright and early to help the monastery abbot (he wants to serve the Church in some way when he grows up).

Constantine’s challenge in school and church is that he has no hearing at all in his left ear and only 70% hearing in his right with an aid. This fragile device often needs to be repaired and re-fitted, during which downtime he is completely deaf. This is a ‘challenge’ rather than a Greek tragedy, however, because hearing can be restored to both ears via the surgical insertion of cochlear implants.

His mother is the sole breadwinner for her family and only makes enough to feed, clothe, and shelter the children. State insurance will only cover the cost of the necessary operations if he is 100% deaf in both ears, a situation that his doctors believe sadly may one day be true but only years from now. Theodora’s greatest concern is the fact that Constantine is losing even more of his hearing as time goes by; she worries if his hearing is not regained soon, the twelve-year-old boy will suffer developmentally as a teenager.

What can we do to help? We can help this young brother in Christ to hear the world around him, his teachers, and the chanted hymnody of the church services he loves.

The cost of the surgery for each ear is €30,000 (~$32,000). The hospital where this pediatric surgery will be performed is in Thessalonica, necessitating several round-trip flights from Athens and overnight lodging for Constantine’s mother, adding another €3,000 (~$3,270). His family will also be required to buy a replacement piece for the implanted hearing mechanism for €4,000 (~$4,300). The total is €37,000 or just under $40,000. *update: lodging costs have been reduced by generous offers of church family and friends in Thessaloniki, therefore reducing the total funds needed to complete this effort to $37,700*

Constantine’s family is close to the Convent of the Holy Angels (GOC) just outside of Athens, where I learned about his situation from the sisters there. When the possibility of a GoFundMe campaign was brought up with his mother, she grew sad, as this fundraising platform doesn’t recognize Greece as a viable country to use their services. My family volunteered to run this campaign from the United States and we will wire the donated funds directly to Theodora’s bank account via Western Union.

I attach a brief video of Theodora and Constantine so you can see the reality of their situation (and their beautiful faces!). He is a bright, well-behaved boy and his mother works incredibly hard to support her young family, but, as I said, there is already barely enough to cover the bills.

We can make a difference today in this family’s life that will radiate through generations. With surgery on his ears, this boy will become a man without disabilities, able to support a wife and family of his own and to serve the Church as he hopes.

I ask that you give whatever you can today, as generous as you would hope others would be to you if you were in Theodora and Constantine’s position. Together we can raise the necessary funds to lift up this child of God, his siblings, and their mother.

Donated funds will be applied toward Constantine’s costs in order of the milestones below (If you can donate a single large sum toward any of these milestones, may God reward you richly for your generosity in positively impacting the course of Constantine’s life):

[complete! 11/8/23] $1,400 raised to cover travel and costs for Constantine’s first in-person visit with the surgeon in Thessalonica

2. $32,000 to cover surgery costs for his left ear

3. $4,300 for the replacement part for his left ear device

Thank you for joining us in helping Constantine hear!

In Christ, Hannah

Post: The nuns at Holy Angels Convent shared that Constantine already told them that he will be praying to the Mother of God for the effort we are all making for his family. They will share your names with him to include in his prayers.