“Travels with Roger”
By: PDG Claudia Frost, Brunswick RC
Drs. Roger and Elizabeth Fagan fitting hearing aids
PDG Claudia Frost champions Dr. Roger Fagan and an audiology clinic in the Dominican Republic.
I have been an admirer of Dr. Fagan and the work he has been doing in the DR for a long time. But my recent journey with him in January 2024, inspired me to share his work here.
In May of 2017, my Brunswick Rotary friend Carolyn Bulliner suggested I travel to the Dominican Republic with the Portland Rotary Club’s 3H project. This mission included H2O - water filters, Hands – prosthetics, and Hearing - providing hearing aids.
In La Romana, I learned about the poverty in the Bateys where the sugar cane harvesters live with their families. I learned about the loss of hands due to the daily use of machetes. I was inspired by watching Dr. Fagan fit children and adults to solar powered hearing aids. There was magic between Roger and his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Fagan, a speech pathologist. Comfort, expertise, kindness and healing abounded in the Good Samaritan Hospital.
One young boy came in with his mother and showed signs of hyperactivity along with deafness. He was wiggling and difficult to fit. Fortunately, I had my iPad with me, and I displayed it to the boy so that he could see himself. He sat still for a few seconds and in that time, the hearing aid was installed. He could hear! I took a tiny bit of pride in my contribution.
The second time I traveled with Roger was in January of 2024. Not only did I witness the miracle of hearing, I admired the hours of work that Dr. Fagan had accomplished before arriving. He had trained hospital nurses in La Romana to test those with hearing difficulties and prepared the hearing aids in Scarborough Maine before traveling to La Romana. This meant that more patients could be tested and fitted in La Romana.
It was during the 2024 visit that we met with the Rotary Club of La Romana and the Executive Director of Good Samaritan Hospital, Moises Sifren. Moises was born in Haiti and was raised in a poor sugar cane village. His history had a huge influence on his dedication to serve all those in the Dominican Republic, regardless of their ability to pay. Additionally, Dr. Roger worked hard to garner hearing aids that are not the most recent, but very usable. He receives free hearing aids from manufacturers which can be used with solar powered batteries.