Chimbote, Arequipa, Lima

Our team began its final leg of our work in Peru by stopping in Chimbote, the country’s largest fishing port.

Unfortunately, decades of overfishing in the area has decimated the fish population and left many to struggle to find new ways to earn an income. It was a great delight to be able to provide thousands of hearing aids to the people of Chimbote in hopes that it will help improve their ability to provide for themselves and their families.

We then moved on to Arequipa, where we continued to provide the gift of hearing for people in need. While in Arequipa, we met Luis. He told us all about his large family, which includes 17 children and 49 grandchildren. His excitement burst throughout the site when we were able to restore his hearing. He talked about how happy he was that he’ll be able to have conversations with his family again.

Another one of our favorite stories from Arequipa came when we were able to restore 77-year-old Manuel’s hearing. He loves being a nutrition teacher, but unfortunately as his hearing worsened with age, he was forced to reduce his work with students. However, now that we have reconnected him to the world of sound with hearing aids, he was overjoyed that he’ll be able to increase his teaching role again. He left our hearing mission site saying, “Thank you to God for this second chance in life!”

We wrapped up our month-long journey around Peru by stopping in Lima, the country’s capital and largest city. Our efforts worked to match the size of the giant, sprawling city as we fit more than 600 patients per day.

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Special Thanks

Natural Hearing Centers: Dan and Angela DeLong; South Suburban Hearing Health Center: Jonathan Wright; Athens Hearing Center: Susan Holland, Tina Elkins; Maria Plasencia Quinones; Franco Encinas; Christian Alva Tataje