"A late family member had always been hard of hearing, she lip read to fully understand what people around her would be saying. I had always been concerned about her missing out on lifesaving sounds and when I realised that there were millions other people who were just like her, I felt that I could do something about it."
Senso ran free trials with over 50 wearable users and some of the experiences have been life-changing. Deaf parents being able to feel vibrations when their infant children need their attention and Deaf Communities being able to knock and receive door knocks when at home or visiting has been one of the greatest impacts of Senso.
"I have been on the social impact driven journey for 7 years now. I have had highs and lows - the most recent low is the global shortage of microchips delaying the long awaited launch of the solution. This has left me deeply disappointed and jeopardised our social impact work that we seek to do in the Deaf Communities. I have had to learn how to access resilience during this challenging, disappointing time and find ways to pick myself up, dust myself off and keep going. The belief in my own capabilities, the team, the solution and the amazing impact that we had already seen during focus groups and product trials were all important components of my resilience. Those components are driven by making time to rest and the sense of community - having people believe in you, when your own self belief takes a dive" - Zuko Mandlakazi, Founder of Senso