Abby Reynolds serves as interpreter at The Children’s Low Vision Project

Dr. Doman recently reached out to several Spanish majors regarding an opportunity to interpret for a Hispanic woman and her daughter during their visit to a low-vision clinic in Kirksville, so I decided to help out! María and her daughter, Meydi, just moved to Milan from Honduras less than a year ago. Meydi suffers from extreme nearsightedness and multiple astigmatisms, so María and I spent a lot of time talking about her health history and what the next steps to correcting her vision would be. I was nervous at first, but the folks at The Children’s Low Vision Project were very kind and María was patient with me if I needed a moment to figure out how to translate a certain phrase. It was such an enriching experience to be able to help someone in a way that allowed them to communicate in their own language. Plus, I was able to practice my Spanish in a real-world setting, so I felt very lucky to be involved!