I think it was the light in the woman’s eyes as she discussed the opportunities that her improved hearing had provided. She was eager to be interviewed and share her story, despite the cold weather and occasional gusts of wind requiring a pause in conversation. She sat with us for a total of forty-five minutes, never once pausing with concern for the time. She smiled, subtly, and told us that the improvement in her hearing had changed her life forever. Through the power of technology she was able to hear again and from there go back to school and get a high paying job. She discussed the idea, held by certain people in the hearing impaired community, that people who are born deaf should embrace it rather than fix it. She respected this mentality, but believed that when an opportunity arose to hear again, it wasn’t something she or her family should resist.

She and her husband were both deaf and together conceived a deaf child. She began to cry as she spoke about the opportunities that technology has provided her daughter and other deaf children. Our eyes welled with tears of both joy and sadness as we thought of  what their life could have been like. Her improved hearing allowed her to communicate with other parents that her daughter goes to school with. It allowed her to hear her daughter cry at night and hear her daughter’s first words. Like other hearing impaired mothers, she did not have to depend on someone else to help raise her child or for a household income. She could hold a stable job and was fully capable of raising her daughter.

We interviewed dozens of people during our time in Brazil, but this woman stood out to me. I felt a deeper connection with her than any other interviewee. I have reflected on this interview several times and it was her spirit and her story that has helped me persevere in the hardest of times. Perhaps it was because she had been so open about her goals and aspirations, it was a true example of how the improvement of hearing can lead to a lifelong benefit. This woman is one that stands out to me most because it was through her interview that I reflect and realize that our efforts were well worth it in more ways than we could imagine. I find that sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the numbers; the number of people who are hearing impaired, the number of people who don’t have access to treatment, the number of people who can’t afford a hearing aid. It is simple to get caught counting the numbers that aren’t being helped rather than reflecting on how many people’s lives are improving. It was this woman who helps remind me that even if just one person can benefit from this technology then it is something worth celebrating, especially if the effects on that one person are so profound.

Our team’s trip to Candido had not been as planned; the translator had not spoken as much English as we had anticipated, and fieldwork required us to work through many obstacles, and it forced each of us to use our individual backgrounds to solve these problems. We learned that fieldwork doesn’t always go the way it should and people aren’t always what you expect. It is filled with frustration, but I choose to remain optimistic and pursue further fieldwork. I choose to keep that one woman in my heart and mind, to remember that helping one person is better than helping none. I have chosen not to look at the number of people who are yet to be helped, but remain hopeful in the people whose lives have changed due to innovation and the generosity of others.

As graduation approaches I continue to reflect on my experience and I want to help change people’s lives because despite the hardships that is what fulfills me. I want to learn about people that I haven’t had the opportunity to learn about and satisfy my curiosity for cultures different than my own. After attending the Tech Awards, I was in awe and completely inspired. I had a shift in belief and realized that after graduation I am meant to do more than go into a cubicle or fall into a typical job. With my experience I want to continue to work with communities one-on-one. This fellowship has ignited something within me and I have learned so much about myself. I have learned that I am most passionate when I am working with people and working with people to create a greater good.

It took me going down and seeing what fieldwork truly was and overcoming the barriers to realize that I want to continue doing it. Even if I am not able to do fieldwork directly following my time at Santa Clara I think that what our team overcame taught us that with passion, confidence, and understanding for one another you can accomplish anything. Sometimes it just involves more frustration than you expected, but with more frustration comes more drive to push forward. Frustration is not always bad, what’s important is that you persevere and keep your goals in front of you and find ways to still reach those goals and this lesson alone will help me in whatever I choose to pursue after graduation.

I had never been to a country with such a language barrier before. I have traveled plenty, but never to countries where even in their major cities there was so little English. Upon embarking on my trip Brazil, I made flashcards, spoke some Spanish and no Portuguese and figured this would be my first step to communicating with Brazilians. It did not take long for me to realize that knowing short phrases was only half the battle because the pronunciation of these words was essential to Brazilians understanding what I was trying to say. I was nervous as I attempted to use the Portuguese I had tried to learn, and became even more nervous when I received confused looks in return. I found that my normally friendly and outgoing demeanor  were lessening as I became less confident in my attempts at the language.

During our first week in Sao Paulo, we attended a party at the Solar Ear Office in honor of Saint John. There were colorful streamers hung all over the office and platters of a variety of typical Brazilian sweets. One of which reminded us of peanut butter – it was absolutely delicious and was the perfect cure to any existing homesickness. Beyond expanding our knowledge of snacks and delicious goods, it was our first time meeting many of the friends and employees of Solar Ear. Andrea spoke English so we were confident in our ability to communicate with her; however, not only would there be a Portuguese language barrier at this party, but many of the attendees would also be deaf.

As the party moved forward, we had to find ways to communicate with the men and women around us. We tried to use the Portuguese sign language we had learned in our first sign language lesson with Daniel, the Solar Ear employee. Daniel was a good person for us to have around because he not only knew written English and Portuguese, but also signed English and Portuguese because he was completely deaf and chose not to use a hearing aid. However, he had not shown up yet and our lesson had not prepared us for how fast people signed when they are conversing. We watched in awe smiling and trying to pick up on any of what we knew. As time progressed, we were able to introduce ourselves by signing our names, where we were from, and how much each of us liked Disneyland- a popular place for Brazilians. When Daniel did arrive later with a friend of his who had been studying English with him for a year,  he helped us with the words we did not know.

After the basic information had been covered, we realized that our phones were the perfect communication tool. We were able to type out whatever questions we couldn’t sign to one another on our phones. I learned that Daniel likes to read and loves action films. They learned that I like romance films and find the view of Sao Paulo to look a lot like New York City. Although this way of conversing worked perfectly, it was with two people who were able to write and read in English. Next, two girls came over and began speaking with us in sign. One girl moved slowly and we were able to pick up on some of what she said, but Daniel and Andrea helped interpret what we could not. The other girl moved in next to Myles and they found that they both shared a love for games. Both of them smiled wide as they worked to solve what ad symbolized what company. Myles had a lot of fun playing cell phone games because he was able to take what he learned in sign language class and spell out some words using the sign language alphabet. Watching them interact and laugh together was something I still remember so fondly because I truly could see him connecting with these men and women that he had just met. They laughed for hours as they played different games and bonded over similar interests. I think it was the first time I saw Myles really relax and connect without letting the language barrier intimidate him. From an outsider’s perspective, it was just a common group of teenagers playing a game on a cell phone and enjoying one another’s company.

We had a great time laughing with everyone and it really pushed us out of our comfort zones, but also showed exactly what Andrea had been saying at Solar Ear on Thursday. These men and women are our age and just like us. We have the same interests, we love to smile, and we love to learn. They welcomed us in during a time when we could have easily felt out of place.

As we said and signed “chao” to the men and women as they left, Andrea’s English speaking boyfriend said, “It’s sad you know, a lot of them don’t have anything to go do on the weekends. Many just go home to their parents and many of their parents don’t know how to sign.” This really stopped us in our tracks. Just because of something so out of their control, they weren’t able to participate in day-to-day activities that we are lucky enough to participate in. On the one hand, it made us realize just how important it must be that Solar Ear creates this deaf community for people who are hearing impaired and of that age, but at the same time it did remind us of this stigma we had just seen firsthand is not a truth by any means.

On our way home, we spoke to one-another about the reality of deafness and some of the struggles they face that we hadn’t thought about until the party. There was a young couple that had brought young three-year-old daughter. Andrea explained that the little girl was not hearing impaired, but both of her parents are. As we walked we discussed several points. What if both parents can’t afford a hearing aid, can they not hear when their child cries? When their child laughs? The child’s first words? Myles brought up that when one person wants to get the attention of another, instead of interrupting or raising their voice, they must find a way to get their attention or find eye contact in order to then begin signing. We saw this several times when someone on one side of the room wished to sign to someone on the other side, they had to wave and hope the person eventually saw them. When seeing this community first-hand we learned so much about signing and it was our first time interacting with so many people who are hearing impaired; however, it brought more to our attention about the importance of the work Solar Ear is doing. Now, we all think of being deaf as just speaking another language. Communicating with them is no different than communicating with someone who speaks Portuguese or any other foreign language.

I felt a deeper connection with some of the people I met in Brazil than I have in my four years here at Santa Clara. Looking back, many of those people are deaf, some of them spoke no English, and some spoke broken English. However, it is not only through speaking the same language that people can find a common ground to connect on. I realized that despite cultural differences, we are still all humans that can find ways to relate to one another.