This semester has been a challenge, and one that has left me questioning why I put myself through long study hours and stressful courses at all. January was a month filled with prayer asking God to remind me why He continually calls me to this field, and He faithfully reminded me. During my gap year, God had put a desire on my heart to show His love to people by giving a voice to those with disabilities and their families -- particularly in cultures where these groups are marginalized and stigmatized. This goal of using speech pathology as a platform to communicate God's love for His people aligns with that of Hope Speaks, whose description is below.

As I navigated this reminder of why I study speech pathology, I woke up one morning with a strong calling to pursue spending the summer with Hope Speaks. Beyond wanting to gain experience as a clinician working across cultures and languages, my goal was to learn more about how Hope Speaks operates as a model for providing speech pathology services in developing countries as a platform for missions. As I prayed through what seemed like an impossible proposition, God (rapidly) tore down all the barriers to the trip, and barely a month later, I received word that the trip is a GO and it is, amazingly, happening.

Hope Speaks is a wonderful ministry that helps children with disabilities in Kampala, Uganda. 1 in 7 children are living with a disability. Their main ministry is providing Speech Therapy to hundreds of these children. They teach them to swallow, chew, understand and express language, and so much more. Many of the volunteers are Speech Language Pathology grad students, as well as Speech Therapy professionals. This will help them reach many more children with these services.

Hope Speaks has gone beyond that and also includes hosting other groups who help with projects, food for families, children's day camps, and going and serving in the slums.


This summer, I will spend 10 weeks with Hope Speaks, providing speech, language and swallowing services to locals and learning about how such an organization operates. These clinical hours apply directly both to my degree and the Bilingual Certificate program I am completing. If you feel led to give financially, every donation makes a difference in allowing me to be present in these goals and serving God's people. 

Thank you for partnering with me, whether through prayer or finances, to help me continue to be faithful to how God calls me to do His work!