Never tested for hearing, the nine-year old Mexican girl cried as Lion Bill Klingensmith gently hooked her up to the audiometer. She sobbed while the hearing aid was fitted. And the tears didn't stop when her mother began speaking to her. Only this time her crying was not because of fear or stress.

"She was just so, so happy," recalled Klingensmith. "She was smiling through her tears."

Klingensmith and the Clawson Lions of Michigan brought the gift of hearing in May of 2001 to impoverished residents of Rioverde San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Two hundred thirty-nine people were fitted with hearing aids.

"It was something to see the joy of children and adults when for the first time they could hear voices, birds, traffic sounds," said Klingensmith, president of the Clawson Lions at the time and past district governor of 11-A2. "I've been a Lion for 35 years and never had the opportunity to go on a mission. This was so gratifying."

LCIF provided a US $10,000 international assistance grant for the project between the Lions of Rioverde and Clawson. Rioverde Lions assisted with logistics, transportation, customs clearance and publicity. Rioverde Lion Dr. Ismael Suarez fitted the hearing aids. Assisting him was Ken Nielsen, third vice president of the Clawson Lions and a licensed hearing aid dispenser.

The mission also was done in conjunction with eye exams and distribution of 5,000 eyeglasses in Rioverde. The Riverside Lions Club in Fort Worth, Texas, paid for the shipment from the Lions' recycled eyeglass center in Muncie, Ind. Jose Agustin Suarez, club president, traveled to Rioverde to help with translation.

In 2001, LCIF gave US$409,000 for two dozen international assistance grants. Such grants are given for partnership projects between Lions clubs in at least two countries.

The Rioverde project was in many ways a classic example of LCIF in action. It showed that even a relatively small grant can make a big difference, that Lions clubs from different countries and circumstances can collaborate effectively and that individual Lions can profit from healthcare training and help lead a mission.

Klingensmith and Michael Main, past president, received three days of training on the audiometer. Together they tested 500 people in Rioverde in five days. "I was a little nervous the first day. After that I knew exactly how to read the nuances of it," said Klingensmith, a retired purchasing manager in the automotive field.

The 31,000 residents of Rioverde are served by only six doctors. The average income per family is US $920, making the cost of an eye and hearing exams prohibitive.

The Clawson Lions used the LCIF grant money to help buy discounted hearing aids, battery packs, tubing and other materials. The rest of the funds for the US $27,500 project came from the Clawson and Rioverde clubs and other sources.

This was the third year the Clawson Lions came down to Rioverde. Part of their mission in 2001 was to repair and replace batteries on hearing aids distributed in prior years.

Klingensmith said that besides providing needed care, part of the satisfaction of the mission was mingling with fellow Lions and community members. There were prearranged dinners and impromptu gatherings at people's homes. "I was 'El presidente Bill' " he said. "Everywhere I went I had to give a speech."

The gratitude of residents was memorable, Klingensmith added. "They just could not believe that an organization would come down and do something for them that they did not have enough money to do," said Klingensmith.

Sadly, Lion Main, who skillfully ran the audiometer, died in a boating accident less than three months after the mission. He had made a brief but much-appreciated impact on Rioverde. Residents there are said to be considering naming a new school for the deaf after their Lion friend.