Desiree Adonis was born in District Six and lived there until she was eight years old when she was forcibly removed with her family to Heideveld under the laws of the apartheid regime. Mrs Adonis was one of 10 children. They all grew up in a small home where she shared a room with six of her siblings. When she was 30 her dad passed on and had to be the breadwinner for her family. She worked as a bookkeeper until she was 58 years old and decided to start a catering business. She is now retired and depends on the SASSA pension grants for an income.
Mrs Adonis is now 64 years old and has two daughters and a grandchild. She has been living with hearing loss for a few years now. She struggles to communicate when there are lots of people and has difficulty hearing environmental sounds when driving, which becomes very stressful for her. Despite her difficulties, Mrs Adonis maintains a positive attitude to life and tries to find humour in her hearing loss.
Mrs Adonis attended the HearinAfrica screening day where she hoped to understand her hearing loss better. With the help from the Spirit Community Foundation, Mrs Adonis was able to undergo comprehensive audiological testing and will be fitted with a hearing aid in March.