Starkey Mission Day Four: the joy of hearing
Friday May 12th. Mission Day Four. Fittings:
Today I was on fittings all day long, wahoo!! I had the thought that one this whole week just went by way too fast, and then I wondered if today I would have one of those unforgettable experiences that I feel like I hadn't had quite yet due to my internal battle and then the sheer fact of going through as many people as we could. But I knew it'd all play out how it was supposed to. Oh my fittings are so fun! The way they do it here on the Starkey missions is they have 10 different power levels embodied in 10 different hearing aids, they all have a volume control and some with an on off switch or if not they just use the battery door. The reminded me of the ones I wore in elementary school! After either picking up their custom molds that were made prior to this mission or receiving a stock mold, the patients would sit in a chair, we would attempt to explain what we were doing and then begin with the level 2 hearing aid. We would stand behind them saying ba ba ba or other sounds and ask them how they felt it sounded. It was then they would either shake their hands indicating no sound, or say that's good or it was too loud. If they said it was too quiet or fine, after going through the 4 volume levels of the HA, we would go up to the next power and repeat until the patient told us it was too loud or winced at the volume, we then would go down until they said it was ok. Then we would do the same thing on the other ear. Super quick, super efficient way to do it.
It was so fun to see and hear all the different reactions from the people there, for instance, I fit a man that was really happy where his HA were set at and then for some reason I was laughing and it scared the man I was fitting! He would jump and laugh with us but then say "clang, clang". He kept saying clang even when I turned it down lower than what was comfortable for him. It finally dawned on me that it was because I was laughing quite close to his hearing aid. Poor guy being traumatized by my laughs as his first exposure to sound. We got it figured out and we all left smiling :)
I fit another little girl today that was sitting on her mom's lap and almost completely oblivious to anything that was going on. You could just sense the anxiousness and hope in the mother's eyes as I attempted to find a hearing aid that could possibly help her. I don't know how Larissa got this picture but it is absolutely priceless. This girl went from being unresponsive to whipping around to see where the sound was coming from as she smiled sheepishly. And the mother. I think I like watching the mother's reactions just as much if not more than the child we are fitting. Mothers are the most incredible people in the world. And for one to watch their child with whom they have patiently tried to love and care for despite the communication barriers, to then finally be able to have hope because of a hearing aid. Wow. I just can not imagine the joy.
It was today that I connected with one of the people I was supposed to meet over here in Cambodia. There was a young man probably in his 20's that had been deaf since he was born, had very little speech if any at all but looked like a happy, intelligent young man. I went about working through the interpreter and fitting the boy. As we started getting responses from the boy, I continued to find the most comfortable level (You just kind of get in this zone and work until you find the optimal setting for them.) It wasn't until my interpreter tapped me and said in his broken English "Mam is crying." It was then that I snapped out of my fitting zone and my world just kind of halted. I made eye contact with the mother and even though we could not speak the same language, our souls were communicated everything. I had the mother come over and call the boy's name, we watched him beam and he turned to the voice of his mother for maybe the first time ever. The mother was emotional and the dad was smiling ear to ear.
It was that moment that the internal conflict I've been having all week from being so happy to be helping to wondering how much it was really helping the people, how they do once they leave us, how effective the after care really is- I realized that despite the overwhelming criticism the Starkey Hearing Foundation may receive, the work they are doing worldwide is changing lives for the better. And it's not just changing individual people, it's changing families, communities, nations, generations. And I felt honored to be a part of it.
I felt like I was hugging my mother as I hugged this sweet woman. Her emotion affected me much more deeply than I could have been prepared for. It was then, that I was again overwhelmed with appreciation for my mother, her sacrifice and the truly blessed life I live because of her. Her and my dad both- to be able to rise above and decide the life they wanted for their child and not taking no or impossible as an answer.
For my last fitting of the day and the mission, I tagged teamed with Brittany where we attempted to fit this super happy, smiley little boy. His eyes just shone with innocent joy. His hair was so soft and wispy, my fingers couldn’t resist. I say we attempted to fit him because we were not able to find a set of hearing aids that he would respond to at all- we don't know if there was more involved or what was going on. His bright shining eyes still melt my heart as I think about him. My heart broke for him, and his family, just hoping that that smile would be his strength through out his life, regardless of what conditions he in reality had and what would come of his life.
Today we got a chance to go swimming!! Hallelujah! And no it was not on a beach but I wouldn't want to get in any standing water anywhere in Cambodia, Sadly it's all so polluted with everything you can imagine and the stench is overwhelming. The hotel we stayed at had a nice, clean pool- ohhhh my I was in heaven!! It was just a big long open pool, long enough for laps, and there were a ton of old guys swimming, so I just did my best not to run into them.... Ok, I want to know what they use in the water here as a cleaner because I could open my eyes underwater without them stinging horribly like they do at home in America. I was kind of freaking out how amazing it was!! And yes there was some chemical in the water cleaning it (I'm just telling myself that, if I'm sick in a week we'll know why).
We went to dinner to a really fun culinary school that had dishes with all sorts of plants and insects. We were so excited to try the fried tarantulas :) Apparently, they were running low and didn't want to fry up their last one for us, so I settled with another curry. Oh goodness, curry is SO delicious. And the passion fruit smoothie I ordered was to die for. I did have an exotic experience trying a bit of the Red Ant salad that another girl ordered. That was.... not fun haha Imagine the biggest red ant you've seen. Multiple of them, fried and crispy lightly tossed into a salad. You can't really chew ants because they are too small, but they are big enough to feel so weird as they go down your throat whole. Yum. But hey I ate it! haha ohhh good times. We took Tuk Tuks back to the hotel again. Oh my I LOVE these things. The Cambodian taxis. America needs these. I need these on campus when it's frigidly cold and I'm walking from the building. Let's just put a little hot coco maker in there with a space heater ohhh my it would be the best!!
Today I was on fittings all day long, wahoo!! I had the thought that one this whole week just went by way too fast, and then I wondered if today I would have one of those unforgettable experiences that I feel like I hadn't had quite yet due to my internal battle and then the sheer fact of going through as many people as we could. But I knew it'd all play out how it was supposed to. Oh my fittings are so fun! The way they do it here on the Starkey missions is they have 10 different power levels embodied in 10 different hearing aids, they all have a volume control and some with an on off switch or if not they just use the battery door. The reminded me of the ones I wore in elementary school! After either picking up their custom molds that were made prior to this mission or receiving a stock mold, the patients would sit in a chair, we would attempt to explain what we were doing and then begin with the level 2 hearing aid. We would stand behind them saying ba ba ba or other sounds and ask them how they felt it sounded. It was then they would either shake their hands indicating no sound, or say that's good or it was too loud. If they said it was too quiet or fine, after going through the 4 volume levels of the HA, we would go up to the next power and repeat until the patient told us it was too loud or winced at the volume, we then would go down until they said it was ok. Then we would do the same thing on the other ear. Super quick, super efficient way to do it.
It was so fun to see and hear all the different reactions from the people there, for instance, I fit a man that was really happy where his HA were set at and then for some reason I was laughing and it scared the man I was fitting! He would jump and laugh with us but then say "clang, clang". He kept saying clang even when I turned it down lower than what was comfortable for him. It finally dawned on me that it was because I was laughing quite close to his hearing aid. Poor guy being traumatized by my laughs as his first exposure to sound. We got it figured out and we all left smiling :)
I fit another little girl today that was sitting on her mom's lap and almost completely oblivious to anything that was going on. You could just sense the anxiousness and hope in the mother's eyes as I attempted to find a hearing aid that could possibly help her. I don't know how Larissa got this picture but it is absolutely priceless. This girl went from being unresponsive to whipping around to see where the sound was coming from as she smiled sheepishly. And the mother. I think I like watching the mother's reactions just as much if not more than the child we are fitting. Mothers are the most incredible people in the world. And for one to watch their child with whom they have patiently tried to love and care for despite the communication barriers, to then finally be able to have hope because of a hearing aid. Wow. I just can not imagine the joy.
Photo credit: Larissa Marvos Starkey Marketing Team
It was today that I connected with one of the people I was supposed to meet over here in Cambodia. There was a young man probably in his 20's that had been deaf since he was born, had very little speech if any at all but looked like a happy, intelligent young man. I went about working through the interpreter and fitting the boy. As we started getting responses from the boy, I continued to find the most comfortable level (You just kind of get in this zone and work until you find the optimal setting for them.) It wasn't until my interpreter tapped me and said in his broken English "Mam is crying." It was then that I snapped out of my fitting zone and my world just kind of halted. I made eye contact with the mother and even though we could not speak the same language, our souls were communicated everything. I had the mother come over and call the boy's name, we watched him beam and he turned to the voice of his mother for maybe the first time ever. The mother was emotional and the dad was smiling ear to ear.
It was that moment that the internal conflict I've been having all week from being so happy to be helping to wondering how much it was really helping the people, how they do once they leave us, how effective the after care really is- I realized that despite the overwhelming criticism the Starkey Hearing Foundation may receive, the work they are doing worldwide is changing lives for the better. And it's not just changing individual people, it's changing families, communities, nations, generations. And I felt honored to be a part of it.
I felt like I was hugging my mother as I hugged this sweet woman. Her emotion affected me much more deeply than I could have been prepared for. It was then, that I was again overwhelmed with appreciation for my mother, her sacrifice and the truly blessed life I live because of her. Her and my dad both- to be able to rise above and decide the life they wanted for their child and not taking no or impossible as an answer.
For my last fitting of the day and the mission, I tagged teamed with Brittany where we attempted to fit this super happy, smiley little boy. His eyes just shone with innocent joy. His hair was so soft and wispy, my fingers couldn’t resist. I say we attempted to fit him because we were not able to find a set of hearing aids that he would respond to at all- we don't know if there was more involved or what was going on. His bright shining eyes still melt my heart as I think about him. My heart broke for him, and his family, just hoping that that smile would be his strength through out his life, regardless of what conditions he in reality had and what would come of his life.
Today we got a chance to go swimming!! Hallelujah! And no it was not on a beach but I wouldn't want to get in any standing water anywhere in Cambodia, Sadly it's all so polluted with everything you can imagine and the stench is overwhelming. The hotel we stayed at had a nice, clean pool- ohhhh my I was in heaven!! It was just a big long open pool, long enough for laps, and there were a ton of old guys swimming, so I just did my best not to run into them.... Ok, I want to know what they use in the water here as a cleaner because I could open my eyes underwater without them stinging horribly like they do at home in America. I was kind of freaking out how amazing it was!! And yes there was some chemical in the water cleaning it (I'm just telling myself that, if I'm sick in a week we'll know why).
We went to dinner to a really fun culinary school that had dishes with all sorts of plants and insects. We were so excited to try the fried tarantulas :) Apparently, they were running low and didn't want to fry up their last one for us, so I settled with another curry. Oh goodness, curry is SO delicious. And the passion fruit smoothie I ordered was to die for. I did have an exotic experience trying a bit of the Red Ant salad that another girl ordered. That was.... not fun haha Imagine the biggest red ant you've seen. Multiple of them, fried and crispy lightly tossed into a salad. You can't really chew ants because they are too small, but they are big enough to feel so weird as they go down your throat whole. Yum. But hey I ate it! haha ohhh good times. We took Tuk Tuks back to the hotel again. Oh my I LOVE these things. The Cambodian taxis. America needs these. I need these on campus when it's frigidly cold and I'm walking from the building. Let's just put a little hot coco maker in there with a space heater ohhh my it would be the best!!
Comments
Post a Comment