Apia, Savaii Island, PagoPago

Beginning in 2015, Starkey Hearing Foundation began connecting with local partners in both Samoa and American Samoa to bring hearing help to people in need in those countries.

Those connections led to Phase 1 hearing screenings in November 2015 in the cities of Apia and Savaii. Our team returned in April this year to conduct our first-ever hearing missions in Samoa and American Samoa.

The people of both nations were very welcoming to our team. We were thrilled to see so many bright smiles on the hundreds of people we gave the give the gift of hearing.

A fun fact about Samoa and American Samoa is that despite being only 25 miles apart, they are on opposite sides of the International Date Line.

That created a bit of time warp for our mission team as they were among the first people in the world to see daylight on Friday, April 8 in Samoa, only to seemingly go back in time as they traveled to American Samoa to help patients on Thursday, April 7.

We always appreciate new local partners who step up to help give hearing health care in places we’ve never been before. Their support is critical to provide follow up AfterCare to patients as well. We look forward to continuing to hear how hearing devices are helping patients in Samoa and American Samoa.