Auburn University Audiology Outreach in Guatemala

How the Project Started

In 2008, Dr. Sandra Clark-Lewis, Clinical Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders, was invited to Guatemala City through the Secretary of Social Services and at the request of the wife of the Mayor of Guatemala City (and former First Lady of Guatemala), Patricia Arzu, to discuss providing hearing screenings for 1500 of the poorest children in the city. In Guatemala City, there are a significant number of children who, in order to survive, work on the streets during the day and therefore are unable to attend a traditional school. To help these children, Mrs. Arzu established three schools in Guatemala City. These schools provide teachers and lessons, as well as two meals a day. The schools also attempt to attend to the medical needs of these children, but the professional resources of this country are limited. In addition to the schools, Mrs. Arzu established daycare centers for approximately 1000 children from the ages birth to 6 years. There are children of the urban underclass in Guatemala City and most of these children would likely not become productive citizens without the care of these centers.

In 2009, Dr. Clark-Lewis was awarded a $14,749 grant from the Auburn University Office of Outreach for her project " Auburn Audiology Outreach in Guatemala" and an additional $3,800 from the College of Liberal Arts. This money was used to purchase testing equipment and to send Dr. Clark-Lewis and six Auburn University Audiology doctoral students to Guatemala to complete testing in August 2009. In addition to the grant, Dr. Martha Miller, Auburn University Alumna, and GN Resound representative, acquired 40 digital hearing aids to fit on the Guatemalan children who were identified with an educationally significant hearing impairment.

How the Project Has Grown

Since the original trip in 2009, Auburn audiology doctoral students, audiology faculty, and audiology alumni have traveled annually to Guatemala City to provide hearing tests and other audiological services to the street children of Guatemala. Since Guatemalan school personnel were trained to conduct hearing screenings during the first trip, they administer yearly hearing screenings to the 1800 children enrolled in their schools. On the subsequent trips, the Auburn University personnel have administered audiological testing to the children who failed the hearing screening and delivered hearing aids to all children who experienced and educationally significant hearing loss.

To date, nineteen audiology doctoral students and four audiology alumni have traveled with Dr. Clark-Lewis to Guatemala to serve these children. To see the daily reports from the annual trips, check out our blog posts below. The next trip will be May 4 - 11, 2013. Check in daily to keep up with the students this year.