Language: Guaraní (Paraguay)
Contribution: English Language Speaker
Dialect Origin: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Female Character: Pitulí
Age During Recording: 33
Mariessa Maughan participated in and partially funded the design process of the Lingua Bear toy. When one of our Guaraní speakers need an auxiliary speaker, she volunteered to record the English portion for this character. As treasurer, she has played an important role in developing our fundraising campaigns and accounting.
“I live and grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. I graduated from the University of Utah in 2008 with a B.S. in Mass Communications. A few of my passions are spending time with my friends, helping those in need, and traveling. I work at the John A. Moran Eye Center and abroad with their Outreach Medical Eye Camps to help restore vision to those who need it locally and internationally. I have traveled with them to the Navajo Nation, Tanzania, and Micronesia. Each time I visit another country I do my best to learn and correctly pronounce a few words in the local languages. I don’t always get it right, but the people usually help me and a little bit really does go a long way.”