At HearingLife, our mission has always been simple and deeply human: help more people hear better. So when the opportunity arose to join an audiological humanitarian trip to Guatemala, it felt like a natural extension of who we are and what we stand for.
This October, four HearingLife audiologists traveled to Guatemala with Hearing the Call, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to providing long-term, sustainable hearing care to communities around the world. Their ongoing presence in these regions ensures that care doesn’t end when volunteers return home, something that resonated deeply with our team.
“Being able to plug in to an existing program means our efforts support a sustained mission and don’t create a void when we leave,” said Dr. Leslie Soiles, HearingLife’s Chief Audiologist. “Hearing the Call visits Guatemala twice a year, which allows them to provide true continuity of care.”
Dr. Soiles was joined by Dr. Jodi Bova-Larham, Dr. Olivia Dion, and Dr. Christi Rose. Each of them returned profoundly moved by the experience—by the people they met, the gratitude they witnessed, and the reminder of why they chose this profession in the first place.
“The need to hear is so foundational and so basic,” Dr. Soiles reflected. “The people we helped were just so grateful.”
Gratitude became a theme for all four audiologists. It wasn’t only the patients who expressed it, though their appreciation was overwhelming, it was everyone they encountered.
“The patients were so appreciative,” said Dr. Rose. “But the hospital staff, the cleaning ladies, the kitchen team… everyone took so much pride in what they have and shared it with us.”
Dr. Dion echoed the sentiment. “I was astounded by how grateful and patient the people were. People would show up at 7 a.m. and wait for hours, eager for care. It reminded me why I got into audiology.”
The contrast between their day-to-day work at HearingLife and the environment in Guatemala was striking. Older equipment, constant troubleshooting, and conducting multiple hearing tests in one large room made the experience feel worlds away from their clinics back home.
“We really had to work as a team and be adaptable,” said Dr. Bova-Larham. “Things broke, things went wrong—but the people we helped were so appreciative that every challenge felt worth it.”
Despite the setting, the team remained committed to best practices, even performing Real Ear Measurements during fittings.
“That’s how important it is,” Dr. Soiles said. “We did Real Ear Measurements in a field-hospital setting.”
And after each fitting, joy filled the room.
“We’d have a whole photo shoot after they got their hearing aids,” Dr. Rose laughed. “Everyone wanted a picture—with me, with their family. They were just so happy.”
In addition to hearing aid fittings, Hearing the Call provided ENT surgeries and trained local hospital staff to ensure ongoing care long after the trip ended. This sustainable approach is essential to meaningful humanitarian work.
Dr. Rose even witnessed a tympanoplasty surgery, an especially powerful moment since she once had the same procedure herself. Several children received ear tubes the same day they were evaluated, a critical service for families who often travel hours for care.
The trip was a reminder of the universal desire to connect, to communicate, and to be heard. And for our audiologists, it reaffirmed the heart of HearingLife’s mission: changing lives through better hearing, wherever the need exists.
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