Karnal, Jalandhar, Nashik, Pune

April 2013 India

As a last stop on a more than two-month mission swing, India’s color, culture and gratitude rejuvenated the mission team. Crisscrossing India with missions in four cities over the course of two weeks, we worked closely with the Starkey India team to fit more than 12,500 hearing aids to people in need.

The mission team arrived in the midst of the annual Hindu festival, Holi. It is a celebration of the arrival of spring, where people gather together to throw vibrantly colored powders at friends and strangers. We were excited to give thousands of people in need something else to celebrate—the gift of hearing!

Dozens of patients arrived for their hearing aid fittings with smiles on their faces and colorfully stained skin. One member of the Starkey India team showed up for work with florescent pink hands, explaining with great zeal, “I have been playing Holi!”

The theme of bringing joy continued throughout the mission. On the team’s final day, an elderly woman was dropped off but was too weak to go any further than the entrance. The mission team jumped into action to make her comfortable and provide the care she needed. As soon as she was fitted with hearing aids, her strength was renewed, and she began smiling and hugging everyone around her, blessing the team. The joy she experienced through the gift of hearing overpowered any discomfort she had been feeling.

Special Thanks

Senator Kuldeep and Renuka Bishnoi; Devi Lal; Venky's; Sanjeev Bafna; Atul Chandak; Subha Aviation; Sandi Young; Starkey India

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