Even after 36 years in the business of helping people hear better, Kaua‘i audiologist Dr. John “Jack” Yarush admitted he’d never quite experienced anything like what happened to him during a recent tour of Belize and Mexico. “I’ve had highlights,
Even after 36 years in the business of helping people hear better, Kaua‘i audiologist Dr. John “Jack” Yarush admitted he’d never quite experienced anything like what happened to him during a recent tour of Belize and Mexico.
“I’ve had highlights, and a lot of rewards. This is one of the best experiences I’ve had, it captivated me so. I would think about doing it on a volunteer basis when I retire.”
Yarush, manager of Ohana Hearing Care in Lihu‘e on Kuhio Highway across from McDonald’s, helped hundreds halfway around the world as part of a team on a mission organized by Starkey Hearing Foundation that brought hearing aids and professional care to people including children who might otherwise never have had access to a hearing specialist.
Yarush was part of a team on a three-week mission in February, of 50 U.S. hearing specialists, including Ohana Hearing Care owner Don Smith, a Honolulu resident. The hearing experts visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, and Belize City in Belize, a country located in Central America southeast of Mexico.
The experience moved him deeply.
“It was unexpected. I knew what the mission was about. A previous team did the testing. But when they brought us out to the village areas, I was taken aback by the hundreds of people waiting for us,” Yarush said. He was especially touched by the number of children he fitted with hearing aids.
“I couldn’t prepare for it. So much of their hearing loss was due to ear infections that were never treated (with proper medicine),” he said.
Yarush said many of the children had not heard a thing since infancy.
He said when they were fitted with hearing devices, the expressions on their faces and the faces of their parents were so emotional, so filled with joy and wonder, that virtually everyone involved was brought to tears.
“I don’t think there was anybody that didn’t have tears in their eyes. They were all rejoicing, all emotional. They were so appreciative of our efforts,” he said.
Yarush said he was looking forward to perhaps making another trip next year, to Nicaragua, a country in Central America.
Yarush said because many children had been hearing impaired for so long, their language skills had never developed.
Some could only make grunting noises to communicate.
Yarush said there were some interesting cultural sidelights in Costa Maya.
Audiologists were interested to find out that Mayan Indians in that area did not speak Spanish, so an additional translator was needed to translate that dialect to Spanish, and then to English for the audiologists.
A total of 1,060 hearing aids were distributed to more than 700 people, Yarush estimated.
Some of the devices were new, some were rebuilt.
The hearing instruments should last five to seven years with proper care, even in the conditions of the under-privileged regions, Yarush said.
Those receiving the hearing aids got training in maintenance, and supplies of batteries.
Yarush also manages Ohana Hearing Care on Maui.
