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“Parents don’t even know something can be done,” says Woodruff, who has, since the mid1990s, journeyed to Southeast Asia to help rural families deal with their children’s hearing loss. “It’s our job to help.” The Kutztown graduate, who later pursued a doctorate in audiology at the Arizona School of Health Sciences, has been volunteering with a group called Americans Helping Asian Children, or AHAC. Each year, along with other volunteer health care professionals, he
18 Tower | Winter 2012
journeys to Asia to provide children with health care, which can often transform them from a potential burden on their family to a vital part of the community. As Woodruff tells it, he almost didn’t go the first time. When his former graduate advisor told him about an upcoming trip, he wanted to go but balked at the cost. Having just started in private practice, he didn’t have a great deal of disposable income, and volunteers pay their own way in the AHAC program. However, after thinking about it and combing over his budget – and with the blessing of his future wife – he went. As an audiologist, Woodruff has the ability to diagnose hearing loss and offer solutions.