Global Engagement

Jun 29 2022

Jun 28 2022

Our three weeks in Arizona and New Mexico came to a beautiful ending back in the city where it all began, Tucson. On our final full day together, we shared a last supper of pizza and salad with both pastors...

Jun 27 2022

In this post, Birch and Anna reflect on the meaning and practices of teranga in Senegalese culture. Teranga is sometimes translated into English as “good hospitality”.  Americans think of hospitality as the efforts we make to help guests feel welcome....

Jun 26 2022

In this post Emma B. and Gabe reflect on our week of music and the arts in Senegal. On Monday, June 6, our group met up with a griot and his drumming group.  Griots were part of the traditional caste...

Jun 25 2022

On June 6, our group stopped by Village Artisanal de Thiès, where local artisans make and sell their crafts. The village is in an older part of the city and is surrounded by large, beautiful trees. The village itself consists...

Jun 24 2022

Suzanna My name is Suzanna Yoder, and I’m an upcoming senior, social work major. Coming into SST, I was hoping for a host family with many kids. Looking back, I’m thankful that my host family only has one child, as...

Jun 24 2022

Stephany Claudio reflects on her wilderness experience near the end of our three-week course: “Backpacking at the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument was an experience of a lifetime, both exciting and scary. It brought feelings of anxiety at many...

Jun 23 2022

by Samuel Stoner-Eby and Sam Scheele In our fifth week, we visited two development projects to the southeast of Thiès . The Beer Sheba Project is a Christian agricultural education project. Ndem is a community NGO. Ndem has a variety...

Jun 23 2022

 Mia Wellington’s describes the ranch in southeastern Arizona where Frances and Peter Grill live and work: Have you ever heard of a haboob? That’s what ranchers in Arizona call swirls of dust that pop up across the desert on dry...

Jun 21 2022

In this post, Summer Cooper recounts her time among the Hoodoo rock formations in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains: “While in Arizona we camped at the Chiricahua National Monument. We were able to see different animals, learn the history...

Jun 20 2022

Kevin Liddell writes about his experience meeting Apache leader Wendsler Nosie: “During our first week in Arizona we traveled north from Tucson to Oak Flat, a campground in the Tonto National Forest near Superior, Arizona.  While there we experienced a...

Jun 20 2022

In our last week of study several students including Nina and myself came down with covid, so unfortunately we had to navigate some significant adjustments in our final week with Quito host families, which included moving spanish classes to zoom,...

Jun 19 2022

On Friday night we celebrated our host families with a small program and party. Adama opened the meeting and translated when necessary. David gave a small thank you from Goshen College. The heart of the program was statements of gratitude...

Jun 15 2022

Manny Villanueva wrote these reflections about our visit with a retired miner and a tour of his town: “Our group got the opportunity to talk to Henry Muñoz, a retired miner with more than a decade of experience and expertise....

Jun 13 2022

Teresa Ross Richer shares what she learned from an indigenous community leader and long-distance runner about the sport she loves: “Settled in at our first campsite, a group of us scrambled up the desert rocks to watch the sunset and...

Jun 12 2022

Jordan Garlinger writes about the renewable energy system at the church where we stayed and what he learned from one of the people who installed it: “We as a class spent five nights sleeping on air mattresses underneath fans in...

Jun 10 2022

Naomi Ross Richer reflects on the long hike we did on a mountain south of Tucson: “If there is one thing this trip has taught me so far, it would be to explore: to explore nature and to explore the...

Jun 09 2022

We had a wonderful week last week hosting some faculty from Goshen College and making our way North to the city of Otavalo in the province of Imbabura.

Jun 07 2022

Como lo he estado haciendo hasta ahora, hoy me desperté a las 5:30 a.m. para alistarme y desayunar antes de un día largo de trabajo. Hoy es el último de los días completos de trabajo en la Posada Providencia, una...

Jun 07 2022

Después de estar aquí por casi dos semanas, seguimos construyendo la cerca alrededor de la Posada. Todas las mañanas los voluntarios de MDS (Mennonite Disaster Service o el Servicio Mennonita de Desastres), Larry y Roger, comienzan el día con una...

Jun 07 2022

Nuestro día comenzó muy temprano esta mañana. Requerimos estar en la cafetería a las 6:00 a.m. en punto para empacar almuerzos y desayunar. Después del desayuno, nos dirigimos a la Posada para trabajar más en la cerca. Hoy nuestra tarea...

Jun 07 2022

Comenzamos esta semana con una devoción hallada en Hechos 20:24 que dice: “Sin embargo, considero que mi vida no vale nada para mí; mi único objetivo es terminar la carrera y completar la tarea que el Señor Jesús me ha...

Jun 07 2022

Esta mañana me desperté a las 7:00, aunque no teníamos que estar en la iglesia hasta las 9:30. A pesar de que mi cuerpo ya se acostumbró al horario de despertarse temprano a las 5:30 en los días laborales, hoy...

Jun 07 2022

Después de estar en el valle del río Grande durante casi dos semanas, mis compañeros de clase y yo hemos estado expuestos a la crisis fronteriza y los desafíos que enfrentan las personas en las ciudades fronterizas con respecto a...