Missing Information

The obvious problem with hearing loss is that you miss information.

Deaf babies miss the auditory stimulus to begin differentiating sounds and trying them out with their own mouth and tongue. Deaf children cruise on past the prime time for natural language learning, and if they haven't been taught some way of communicating, they miss the relational interaction that helps to socialize and inform them as they develop. Deaf adolescents may continue to have socialization problems and also vocational challenges if they haven't been helped to be functional in an increasingly information-centered world. And late-deafened adults (that's me) become increasingly isolated from the functioning world if they can't find ways to share and receive information about their friends, family, work expectations; you can see the problems here.

Often, a deaf or blind person doesn't even know they've missed some bit of information. If we know we missed something, we can ask for a repeat, but when we don't know, we just continue on with life as we know it. This picture from a couple of years ago is of Tom and me with our friend, Aminata, who is illiterate and having eye problems. She misses a lot of information about the world and things she's interested in because she can't read. She's also vulnerable because she's easily taken advantage of when she doesn't know about necessary documents to sign or requirements for enrolling her kids in school.

There are lots of news stories that I miss every day. When I'm overseas, I must say that I don't actually miss the scare stories, the product recalls, the election ads, the tele-marketers and infomercials. But there are things that I wish I knew sooner when I finally do hear about them, like some new technology or way of doing something that makes life safer or healthier.

Recently, I was reading a discussion on the Facebook wall of a new FB friend who is an atheist, about how no one has the right to push their beliefs on someone else. Being the missionary that I am, this of course, caught my attention. While I agree that no one has the right to forcibly coerce someone to proclaim an allegiance that is ingenuine (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc... all have their historical moments of using force and violence to acquire this among their neighbors and "enemies"), it is not true that we don't have the right to share our beliefs openly and honestly with others. I know of people who are so grateful that they heard a different story than the only one to which they had ever been exposed.

It's like the information problem for deaf people, but really everyone. If you don't have access to the internet, newspapers or magazines, or the outside world, you have no opportunity to learn about other belief systems or ways of doing things that might be better than the only way you know. Not that I'm advocating forcing modernity on primitive peoples (yes, there are still some out there untouched by the modern world), but how can anyone learn and make personal decisions if they have no input?

I think it's only fair and humane to share my beliefs if someone is interested, because they might decide to agree with me if they have the chance to know about it. I'm not going to go around beating people over the heads for the chance to share with them. I'm also not going to bribe them with gifts and resources from America, because that would be just as ingenuine as violent coersion. But I know that there are people wanting to know what else is out there, and as far as belief systems go, I tell them that I follow Jesus Christ and his gospel as revealed in the Bible. And I try to live that Gospel out in my life; "walk the talk" as they say.

(By the way, for all my hearing loss friends, watch your mailboxes for the new issue of Hearing Loss Magazine; you'll see a surprise there. If you have hearing loss but aren't a member of the Hearing Loss Association of America, you might want to consider it by checking out their website: http://www.hearingloss.org/ )

Catching Up and Going Back...or is it Forward?

Well, my last post several weeks ago was cheering on some reality show contestants with physical challenges, besides that provided by the producers. To date, Scott on American Idol has been voted off, but Luke and Margie are still on The Amazing Race. They've been having some interpersonal spats with other contestants that shows their fatigue at this point in the race. I hope they can end gracefully, in whichever position they achieve. It would be nice to see them win.

Meanwhile, I've been doing some travelling with my family, speaking in churches that support our work in Africa and giving them an update on our current plans to return to Mali with my hearing situation. For Spring Break, we drove to Minot, ND, and renewed friendships there with my college roommate and her family and church. As we drove back, we enjoyed watching flock after flock of Canada Geese heading north in formation after a long winter. We also stopped to play in a huge snowdrift by the side of the highway, but otherwise avoided the flooding and snowfall before and after our visit.

Once the weather started to show signs of Spring, I started walking outside again and enjoying the sounds of woodpeckers and other birds getting busy with their work of living. It is such a pleasure to hear these things again, as I recall where I was at last year at this time. I had survived a difficult case of malaria and dysentery, with some complications that convinced my doctor to give me an antibiotic that "nuked" my hearing. I arrived back in the States on April 18th, my birthday, last year, profoundly deaf in both ears.

For six months, I was in shock at my new circumstances and the feeling of complete dependence on my husband and family to interpret my world for me. Then I got my first cochlear implant, which restored my sense of confidence and hope as I could once again have conversations with people and listen to the radio and t.v. Doing so well with the first one, I got the second implant in my other ear and the feeling of being balanced in hearing again was confirmation that I could plan on getting back to my "life" and work.

Now, many months later, I am still hesitant to talk on the phone, but can do it if necessary and will make the best of trying to understand. Noisy restaurants and riding in the car are still listening challenges, but I do think that music is improving. And voices don't sound like chipmunks anymore!

So, we have booked our tickets to fly back to Africa on June 8th, leaving from Chicago. We have a few more speaking engagements before then, and lots of sorting and packing to do. We also need to continue presenting our work for people's consideration of charitable donation. Here is a link to our agency's personal page for us, with buttons near the top to make on-line donations or commitments: http://http//worldventure.com/Missionaries/Missionary-Directory/Missionary/Seward_Tom_Lisa.html

Thanks for considering if you'd like to be a prayer or financial partner with us in a difficult but rewarding work. We are helping down-trodden women learn to read and write, children be able to go to school, pastors be able to serve the locals in their villages, young people learn English and expand their view of the world, and much more. To see an archive and many pictures of our blog, check this out: http://tomseward.com/

I'm so glad I could share with you today. Thanks for stopping by.

Two Weeks of Meetings at HQ

After two weeks of meetings in Denver, Tom and I are back home and settled into our routine again. The meetings were a kind of real-life test of hearing effectiveness for me. Some of the meetings were held in a mid-size conference room with about 20 people around a U-shaped table arrangement. Generally only one person was speaking at a time and I could see them and follow well. Just like in noisy restaurants, when lots of people are talking at the same time, it's harder to "zero in" on the conversation in which I'm taking part. But overall, I was encouraged that I could participate in the discussions and even catch most of the jokes. There was one participant who had a ready, loud, distinctive laugh who drowned out some of the jokes when she sat beside me, but I just laughed along anyway!

The second week, we were moved to a big hotel where the conference room held 100-150 people around 10-chair tables. When we were listening to a speaker or musician, I caught most of that as well, because the sound came out of speakers aimed at the audience and my T-mic microphones picked it up well. When we had big-group prayer times where various people around the room prayed, I could hear very little of that because of the distance and lack of amplification, and because people often pray quieter and with their heads bowed. I took comfort in the fact that other people struggled to hear as well.

The worst listening scenario was during the Recognition Luncheon when we were in a big ballroom where the program was piped out of speakers in the ceiling. There was no direction to the sound; it just got lost all over the room. With the clanking of silverware and glasses and the squirmy children and servers doing their thing, I could understand next to nothing from the podium. I was near the back of the room as well, so my visual cues were limited. I did catch when they called our name to go forward for recognition for our years of service with the mission. I felt that many people who knew of my situation this past year were cheering a little extra, glad to see me back in the game.

By the time we left to come back home, I felt reinvigorated by the fun relationship time we had and the spiritual renewal times. I was charged up with ideas for follow-up on areas of ministry both here while we're Stateside and for our work back in Mali. But most of all, I felt like I functioned nearly normally and that my gifts and availability for service are still needed and useful. Tom and I need to gear-up now for our return to Africa at the end of the school year.

We need to start looking at buying our plane tickets, sorting and packing our things stored here at my mom's house, continue our speaking engagements and efforts to discover the rest of our needed monthly financial support, and work on all the other details of finishing the school year, and getting my speech processors ready for a year overseas. I need to set up a meeting with my surgeon, my main audiologist and me to strategize how to best arrange my programs for maximum effect while keeping third world challenges in consideration.