Cambodia reflections: Blinks of an eye that impacted a lifetime.
Cambodia was such a quick trip but it was enough to have life changing moments and feelings.
On Friday, the second to last day of our mission there in Cambodia (my fitting day) we had a team meeting with Megan Baiocchi, the head of this mission as the Asia Pacific Starkey Director (Side note. She was absolutely amazing. I was really impressed with how much she trusted us students especially me as a first year, she was quick to assist us, and not once did I ever feel dumb for asking a question or anything I communicated to her. She did a wonderful job.) where we got a chance to reflect on this week, things we liked and things that Starkey could improve upon ect. It was a chance for all of us to go around the room and share our thoughts about this experience. I think Megan was intending it to be more of a positive criticism session but with only good things to say about this trip it turned into us all sharing our neat experiences and praising the Starkey team for allowing and trusting us to join them on this incredible journey.
The first person that spoke was a strong, intelligent guy with a scruffy beard in from our program and as he emotionally shared his experiences I was totally caught off guard by how touched he was by this mission. He told an experience of fitting a little girl with multiple disabilities with a body aid- the moment he turned it on, she perked up, smiled and looked around causing this wave of feeling and reality of the lives he was helping change. My other classmates and professors continued to share experiences similar to his that they had had through out the week- I was so touched by watching everyone else be so impacted by this mission. I can't really explain the feeling with words but it was really touched me to hear all of my fellow students and professors be so moved by giving the gift of hearing to these people. It was the pure charity they all had. Here we were, a conglomerate of audiologists, students, humanitarian workers gathered from all over the world united by the desire to show this people that someone out there cares about them and their ability to here. It was the fact that all of them, who have never felt the emotional, social isolation and agony of hearing loss, were so passionate about caring for those who have struggled through such a quiet disconnected life- seeing this was humbling in a way that I can not express. It was almost as touching watching them all be so affected by this experience as it was to actually witness the gift of sound first hand.
Going back to my internal turmoil of wondering if this work we were doing was even worth it and what would happen to all these people after we left. I thought back to my LDS mission to Phoenix Arizona. I worked day in and day out for 18 months solid with the one hope to change one person's life with the blessing of the gospel. Most of the people we would stop and talk to wanted nothing to do with us. Some of them were antagonist towards us. Of the people that let us teach them a small percentage of them actually followed through and were baptized and began changing their lives. And then a majority of that small number I saw be baptized are no longer active and are living their lives like they never experienced that incredible change through redeeming love. But then there are the select few miracles that we saw. The people I met there that maybe were not baptized but changed my life forever. People I still am in contact with and that I know when I see again it'll be a happy wonderful reunion. So you could say that my success rate was what 1% maybe? Not even a full percent? But it impacted the lives of those I was led to me and it changed my life. I would never recant that experience for the anything in the world. We changed lives this week. I witnessed it. Are 100% of those people we fit going to continue wear their hearing aids and improve their quality of life with them? No. But some will. And those were the people we were there to help. In the end, going abroad and experiencing a new culture and serving the people changes us. And that's what matters. For me, I witnessed Christlike love from completely nonreligious people. I saw humility in a people that had nothing, I saw hope in the eyes of mothers, I got a ton of awesome clinical experience, I gained personal confidence, I was reconnected with people my soul already knew, and I gained a greater sense of gratitude for the many blessings that I have. And I can't wait to do it all over again next year. #sotheworldmayhear #thankgoodnessfortrips
On Friday, the second to last day of our mission there in Cambodia (my fitting day) we had a team meeting with Megan Baiocchi, the head of this mission as the Asia Pacific Starkey Director (Side note. She was absolutely amazing. I was really impressed with how much she trusted us students especially me as a first year, she was quick to assist us, and not once did I ever feel dumb for asking a question or anything I communicated to her. She did a wonderful job.) where we got a chance to reflect on this week, things we liked and things that Starkey could improve upon ect. It was a chance for all of us to go around the room and share our thoughts about this experience. I think Megan was intending it to be more of a positive criticism session but with only good things to say about this trip it turned into us all sharing our neat experiences and praising the Starkey team for allowing and trusting us to join them on this incredible journey.
The first person that spoke was a strong, intelligent guy with a scruffy beard in from our program and as he emotionally shared his experiences I was totally caught off guard by how touched he was by this mission. He told an experience of fitting a little girl with multiple disabilities with a body aid- the moment he turned it on, she perked up, smiled and looked around causing this wave of feeling and reality of the lives he was helping change. My other classmates and professors continued to share experiences similar to his that they had had through out the week- I was so touched by watching everyone else be so impacted by this mission. I can't really explain the feeling with words but it was really touched me to hear all of my fellow students and professors be so moved by giving the gift of hearing to these people. It was the pure charity they all had. Here we were, a conglomerate of audiologists, students, humanitarian workers gathered from all over the world united by the desire to show this people that someone out there cares about them and their ability to here. It was the fact that all of them, who have never felt the emotional, social isolation and agony of hearing loss, were so passionate about caring for those who have struggled through such a quiet disconnected life- seeing this was humbling in a way that I can not express. It was almost as touching watching them all be so affected by this experience as it was to actually witness the gift of sound first hand.
Going back to my internal turmoil of wondering if this work we were doing was even worth it and what would happen to all these people after we left. I thought back to my LDS mission to Phoenix Arizona. I worked day in and day out for 18 months solid with the one hope to change one person's life with the blessing of the gospel. Most of the people we would stop and talk to wanted nothing to do with us. Some of them were antagonist towards us. Of the people that let us teach them a small percentage of them actually followed through and were baptized and began changing their lives. And then a majority of that small number I saw be baptized are no longer active and are living their lives like they never experienced that incredible change through redeeming love. But then there are the select few miracles that we saw. The people I met there that maybe were not baptized but changed my life forever. People I still am in contact with and that I know when I see again it'll be a happy wonderful reunion. So you could say that my success rate was what 1% maybe? Not even a full percent? But it impacted the lives of those I was led to me and it changed my life. I would never recant that experience for the anything in the world. We changed lives this week. I witnessed it. Are 100% of those people we fit going to continue wear their hearing aids and improve their quality of life with them? No. But some will. And those were the people we were there to help. In the end, going abroad and experiencing a new culture and serving the people changes us. And that's what matters. For me, I witnessed Christlike love from completely nonreligious people. I saw humility in a people that had nothing, I saw hope in the eyes of mothers, I got a ton of awesome clinical experience, I gained personal confidence, I was reconnected with people my soul already knew, and I gained a greater sense of gratitude for the many blessings that I have. And I can't wait to do it all over again next year. #sotheworldmayhear #thankgoodnessfortrips
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