Indonesia 2016 Gets Underway

When thinking of the world’s most populated cities, Jakarta, Indonesia, may not be one of the first places that come to mind. However, with more than 30 million people in the city and surrounding suburbs, it is one of the most densely populated areas in world.

While great strides have been made to improve the economic conditions in Jakarta in recent years, there are still many people in need with little to no access to hearing healthcare.

Our team wasted no time getting right to work helping Indonesians, fitting hundreds of people each day with hearing aids. In turn, we were received with a very strong welcome as well as countless smiles and messages of thanks. 

The early hearing mission in Indonesia featured a few venerable Foundation supporters including Sandi Young and Ret and Caren Templet, each have supported giving the gift of hearing around the world for well over a decade.

“There’s never adequate words to describe being on a hearing mission with the Starkey family,” Sandi Young said. “To be in a room with so many people in need, and witness them going from silent to hearing, it’s incredible and I’ll never stop being thankful for the experience.”

While there were some longtime friends with us in Indonesia, there were also a few with our team helping to fit patients for the first time. While providing hearing care never gets old for our team, there’s always something special about seeing people give their initial go at fitting patients with hearing aids and watching lives change right in front of their eyes. 

“I was told going in that this would be an emotional experience,” first time hearing aid fitter Jackson Balla said. “However, nothing could have fully prepared me what I experienced in being able to look people in the eye and see absolute joy spread across their face.”

Following our time in Jakarta, our team traveled to Bandung where we had the pleasure of welcoming renowned singer and good friend Portia Clark along with her fiancé Brendan to the hearing mission. They both showed a tremendous amount of compassion to patients, as well as brightened the day for many by sharing beautiful vocals for people after they were opened to the world of sound.

These two cities were the beginning of a month-long journey across Indonesia. We’re thrilled we’ve already been able to provide high-quality hearing health care for thousands and are excited as we’ll continue to help thousands more.

Stay tuned for more stories from Indonesia.