Preface: Mission of the hEARt Cambodia 2017
As I ponder about my upcoming hearing health care mission with the Starkey Hearing Foundation, I have been both extremely excited and extremely nervous. Extremely excited because I have been dreaming of wanting to do humanitarian audiology since I decided I wanted to study audiology and it is actually coming true! Extremely nervous for the technicalities of everything we are going to be doing it wont be the same as what we do in our clinical practice but it is something that allows us to quickly and quite effectively fit as many people as we can, getting them onto the path of auditory stimulation, awareness and ultimately improving their quality of life. I just don't want to mess them up by accidently over stimulating them or misdiagnosing an otoscopy and sending them to be fit when they have a perforation that needs to be addressed or something like that. I am only a first year, I know slim to none… My nerves have been going for several weeks now as I prepare for our trip but yesterday during the events of the wedding I had two cool experiences that reassured me that anything I do there in Cambodia will be a blessing someone's life- whether in theirs or my own that I want to share.
First of all, my uncle started chatting with me and as I explained the details of our trip, his immediate response was, "Wow, that is kind of like Jesus." It was such a tender, genuine comment that really touched home for me. The service we render will be healing hearts, hope and hearing and in a sense is like what Jesus did as he healed the sick, and afflicted. I pray that as we do serve these people of Cambodia that they can feel their Father's love for them or at least sense some sort of light emitting from me and my other team members.
Second neat, comforting experience. Then I sat next to this incredible woman from my ward as we were waiting for the Emily and Joel's sealing the day before I flew out for Cambodia. We just got talking about her daughter, who is in middle school and also wears hearing aids. Lately, the daughter has really struggled with wanting to wear her hearing aids due to perceived criticism from her peers, and the annoyance of dealing with the desktop FM system that she has. My heart broke and went out to this sweet girl and her mother as memories of those exact same agonies and concerns came flooding back. We chatted and I don't know that I even actually answered any questions for her but she later told me that she'd been fasting and praying about what to do regarding her daughter- and that talking to me was an answer to her prayers.
These experiences were both the comfort and confirmation that I am in the right career path, that I am blessing lives and that I will be giving the people of Cambodia a gift they have never had the chance to receive before. I feel such a love for them already. I hope that the people I need to meet and that need to meet me will be led to me there halfway around the world. I hope that my simple words can somewhat portray the views of the my heart and soul that will be occurring the next week. So the world may hear. Mission of the hEARt. Cambodia 2017. #thankgoodnessfortrips
First of all, my uncle started chatting with me and as I explained the details of our trip, his immediate response was, "Wow, that is kind of like Jesus." It was such a tender, genuine comment that really touched home for me. The service we render will be healing hearts, hope and hearing and in a sense is like what Jesus did as he healed the sick, and afflicted. I pray that as we do serve these people of Cambodia that they can feel their Father's love for them or at least sense some sort of light emitting from me and my other team members.
Second neat, comforting experience. Then I sat next to this incredible woman from my ward as we were waiting for the Emily and Joel's sealing the day before I flew out for Cambodia. We just got talking about her daughter, who is in middle school and also wears hearing aids. Lately, the daughter has really struggled with wanting to wear her hearing aids due to perceived criticism from her peers, and the annoyance of dealing with the desktop FM system that she has. My heart broke and went out to this sweet girl and her mother as memories of those exact same agonies and concerns came flooding back. We chatted and I don't know that I even actually answered any questions for her but she later told me that she'd been fasting and praying about what to do regarding her daughter- and that talking to me was an answer to her prayers.
These experiences were both the comfort and confirmation that I am in the right career path, that I am blessing lives and that I will be giving the people of Cambodia a gift they have never had the chance to receive before. I feel such a love for them already. I hope that the people I need to meet and that need to meet me will be led to me there halfway around the world. I hope that my simple words can somewhat portray the views of the my heart and soul that will be occurring the next week. So the world may hear. Mission of the hEARt. Cambodia 2017. #thankgoodnessfortrips
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