My name is Gabriel Ades and I have a unilateral hearing loss. When I was five years old I had a surgery to remove a Cholesteatoma from my right ear. A Cholesteatoma is a type of cyst that eats at the bones in the inner ear. A year later I had another surgery to make sure that the Cholesteatoma was removed and to put in a titanium implant. Then when i was about 7 i got my Phonak hearing aid because the implant was too small for my ear. A year or so, after that I wanted to have a surgery to put in a new implant because I didn't want my hearing aid anymore. After the surgery, we found out the implant was still not working, so I still needed my hearing aid. I am doing this project for my Bar Mitzvah which is the coming of age in Judaism. A Bar Mitzvah project is when you do something to give back to the community, mine is called Hear Shomea, Shomea is hebrew for Hear, or heard. I am also collectinig Hearing Aids for Hearing Charities of America (HCOA) and have allready collected over 38. If you would like to view my website you go to hear-shomea.com to learn more about me, my project and why im doing it.