Florida State University audiology students restore hearing for hundreds during Guatemala service trip
Florida – For four intense days in the Guatemalan Highlands, classrooms were replaced with crowded clinics, lecture notes gave way to real-life challenges, and the lessons learned reached far beyond textbooks. Students from Florida State University traveled to Sololá, Guatemala, during the spring semester to provide hearing care services to communities where access to audiology treatment is often limited or completely unavailable.
The service-learning initiative, known as “Help Guatemala Hear,” allowed students from the university’s College of Communication and Information to help hundreds of patients while gaining firsthand experience in global health care outreach. Led by Selena Snowden, teaching faculty III and director of Audiology Services in the School of Communication Science and Disorders, the team carried out more than 100 ear cleanings, fitted 276 hearing devices and treated more than 200 patients during the clinics.
The work unfolded at a rapid pace. Long lines formed daily as residents waited patiently for evaluations and treatment, many traveling significant distances for the opportunity to receive care. In regions where poverty frequently prevents access to routine hearing evaluations, the services provided by the students and faculty filled a critical need.
Snowden, who has organized similar outreach trips since 2015 except during the pandemic years, said the experience consistently transforms students both professionally and personally.
“I love to witness how the students grow each year clinically, personally, and in humility over the course of experience,” Snowden said.
This year’s trip marked the largest student participation in the program’s history. Fourteen undergraduate students and three graduate students from FSU joined the effort, along with one undergraduate student from Valdosta State University studying communication sciences and disorders.
The expanded team allowed the clinics to operate with greater efficiency while increasing the number of patients who could be seen each day. Even so, the work demanded preparation well before anyone boarded a plane to Guatemala.
Students completed more than 250 hours of training ahead of the trip. The preparation focused not only on clinical procedures, but also on ethical considerations, cultural awareness and how to safely work in environments with fewer medical resources.
“The 250 pre-trip training hours matter because they ensure students understand the scope of practice and know how to work safely in low-resource settings,” Snowden said. “It can also prepare the students culturally, help the team function smoothly on high-capacity clinic days, and ground the students in reflection and ethics so the experience is about long-term impact.”
For many students, the extensive training created confidence, but the realities they encountered in Guatemala left the deepest impression.
Leslie Abbott, an undergraduate student majoring in Communication Science and Disorders, said no amount of classroom preparation could fully recreate the experience of working directly with patients in the field.
“The 250 hours of training made me more confident in my ability to serve the people of Guatemala, however what taught me the most was actually learning from the situations I encountered while I was in Guatemala,” she said.
Abbott said one of the most powerful parts of the trip was witnessing how determined local residents were to receive hearing care despite difficult circumstances and lengthy wait times.
“We were seeing over 50 people a day, which led to long waiting times for some people,” she said. “It was so eye-opening for me to see the lengths the people of Sololá went for hearing services, and not once did anyone complain.”
The atmosphere inside the clinics blended urgency with purpose. Students moved quickly between screenings, fittings and consultations, yet participants said the large group never lost focus on why they were there.
Graduate student Kaitlyn Garcia described the operation as energetic but remarkably coordinated.
“It was amazing to see what we could accomplish with such a large group,” Garcia said. “There was so much energy and excitement, but it still felt very organized and intentional. Even with a big group, everyone knew why they were there.”
For returning participants, the growth of the program was impossible to miss.
Mia Finigan, an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Communication Science and Disorders, took part in the outreach project for a second time this year. Having experienced the clinics before, she quickly noticed how the larger group improved both efficiency and patient outreach.
“Having an even larger group had an enormous impact on our efficiency and ultimately the total number of patients we were able to see,” Finigan said. “I felt I was able to take more charge and grow as a leader for others this year.”
The emotional moments, however, are what students carried home with them.
Finigan recalled treating an elderly man who qualified for two hearing aids during the clinic. His reaction stayed with her long after the day ended.
“He was so thankful and excited that he came up to everyone who had taken care of him at each station and thanked them vigorously while crying,” Finigan said. “In this moment, I realized just how big an impact we would have on many of the patients we were seeing.”
Stories like that became common throughout the week. Patients who had spent years struggling with hearing loss suddenly experienced sounds they had not heard in a long time — or, in some cases, ever before.
Allison Fordyce, another undergraduate student in Communication Disorders, described one patient encounter that permanently changed the way she views access to medical care.
“The moment that stands out to me the most is watching a nine-year-old girl hear for the first time,” Fordyce said. “I got to watch her hear sounds for the first time. This made me realize the weight behind the help that we were providing in Guatemala. The ability to hear and have health care that covers this is something that I take for granted every day.”
The outreach project has evolved into more than a short-term volunteer trip. Over the years, it has become a sustained collaboration built on relationships with local communities and organizations in Guatemala. The effort relies on partnerships with Porch de Salomon, the Oticon Hearing Foundation, Resound Gives Sound, WSAudiology – Signia and numerous private donors who help supply hearing devices and support clinic operations.
Several professional audiologists also contributed to the mission alongside the students, including Kaki Pope, Monica Walker, Ricardo Gauthier and Chelsea Alexander.
For Snowden, the continued growth of the initiative reflects a shared commitment among students, faculty and community partners.
“It’s clear our program’s vision resonates strongly with students and our supportive partners,” Snowden said.
While the trip lasted less than a week, its impact stretched much further. Students returned to Florida with clinical experience that few classroom environments can provide, while hundreds of Guatemalan patients left with improved hearing, treatment plans and renewed connection to the sounds around them.
In places where hearing care is often inaccessible, even a single device can alter daily life — helping a child learn in school, allowing grandparents to communicate more easily with family members or reconnecting someone with the ordinary sounds many people barely notice.
For the students who participated, those moments turned an educational experience into something far more personal.
