First Mission in Bolivia

Every new year invites a time for one to reflect on the past 12 months and set goals for the future. It’s a time where anything can be achieved, a clean slate, and a new start to build off of the past year. As we entered 2018, we had the opportunity to kick off the first hearing mission in a completely new country and celebrate in the birth of a new program. In the central portion of South America lies the country of Bolivia, which contains a varying terrain of the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert and the Amazon Basin rainforest and over 10 million in habitants. On the eastern portion of the country, in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra is where Starkey Hearing Foundation hatched is first hearing mission in the country.

Working closely with the local Rotary Club, Nicolas Zalles, Rotary President, participated in the Phase 1 and attended the Latin America Training in the fall of 2017 in preparation for our Phase 2 Hearing mission in January 2018. Some patients traveled over 1,000 miles to attend the mission at the chance to have a better life with better hearing. More than 100 patients slept outside of the hearing mission site the evening before in preparation to be seen the following morning. At the end of the one-day hearing mission, we were able to serve 465 patients ranging from 5 to 100 years old.

“In Rotary, we have a motto: ‘It benefits more who better serves,’” said Nicolas Zalles. “That day, more than 110 volunteers joined the Starkey team to help the people in attendance. Of course, the patients went home happier — and the volunteers went home feeling that all the effort was more than worth it.”

Moments of joy, happiness, tears and laughter filled the hearing mission space as patients, family members and volunteers were able to experience the joy in hearing. We are so excited to see this program continue to grow and develop throughout Bolivia and strengthen our Latin America family.

The Moron Varga family was fit by the Munoz family. Starkey Hearing Technologies’ Trish Munoz, who is Bolivian, was able to join the mission with her father, Ramiro. Both parents of the Moron Varga family and their daughter were fit with new hearing aids. Mom, Graciela, is pregnant with their fifth child and the joy of being fit was evident with her smile stretching from ear to ear.

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