Blogs

Jan 29 2025

Have we mentioned that Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is hot?! So we all were eager to get out of the heat of the city and spend this past weekend about 70 km north of Dar along the coast in the...

Jan 22 2025

We are now into our second full week here in Dar- time keeps moving right along- but want to tell you all about our first very busy week! Throughout the semester each student will be responsible for contributing the content...

Jan 12 2025

The students day began very early as they packed their things and prepared to meet their host families. It was an early morning wake up for church that began at 7 a.m.. Those who were up early due to jet...

Jan 12 2025

Sim cards, geckos on the ceiling, humid heat= lots of sweat, bright sun, dusty streets, local fisherman’s market, a birthday, pool time, city walking, sun burns, fresh juices, piles of rice and delicious sauces, naps, laughter, navigating transportation, walking through...

Jan 09 2025

We were pleased to welcome the group on the late evening flight into Dar es Salaam. We got to the guesthouse in downtown Dar and it was off to bed for everyone. We will hit the ground running tomorrow in...

Jan 07 2025

Jambo! Greetings and happy New Year from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Welcome to the Goshen College Tanzania SST 2025 Blog! We (the Graber Roths) are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Tanzania SSTers. They land at Julius Nyerere International Airport...

Jan 03 2025

My word for the year is RENEW. Renewal is part and parcel of the God-filled life. It is the stuff of life – we see it in the turning of the earth and the seasons and in death and birth.…

Nov 08 2024

Today is national First-Generation College Celebration Day. Nearly half of our students are the first in their families to go to college, and many of our staff and faculty are similarly first-gen. I am the second generation in my family…

Oct 30 2024

Last week, Dr. Wendsler Nosie brought us a gift and an invitation. The gift was his call to awaken to the sacred nature of the land. The invitation was to stand in solidarity with the Apache in their struggle to…

Oct 11 2024

As we pass the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, we are witnessing the predictable horror that unfolds when the arithmetic of revenge – “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” –…

Aug 26 2024

If you are a college president, which I happen to be, your inbox is full of alarms and advice about the winds of conflict on campuses this fall.

Aug 08 2024

The process of Making Stain Glass Hummingbird: During my time in Ecuador, I got the opportunity to learn and create 4 different types of stained glass hummingbirds. I learned how to cut glass, wrap it in this copper foil, and...

Jul 22 2024

Students have been on Service for weeks now. This experience has allow them to learn, reflect, and live among Ecuadorians in closer relation to many of them. SSTers want to share their activities and how they process them during this...

Jul 22 2024

Students have been on Service for weeks now. This experience has allow them to learn, reflect, and live among Ecuadorians in closer relation to many of them. SSTers want to share their activities and how they process them during this...

Jul 21 2024

Students have been on Service for weeks now. This experience allows them to learn, reflect, and live among Ecuadorians in closer relations. Many SSTers want to express how their activities help them grow and become global citizens. Here is a...

Jul 17 2024

On June 11, the last Tuesday of our visit, we headed to Rathlin Island, the northernmost edge of Northern Ireland. We’d been looking over the water at this island from our Corrymeela backyard for our whole visit, so it was...

Jun 25 2024

On Friday, June 7, we gathered after breakfast to visit the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, one of the most popular sites along the Causeway Coast. The first bridge was built by salmon fisherman in 1755, but we crossed one built in 2008,...

Jun 21 2024

For the Goshen College community, service is accompaniment, “an attempt to walk along-side host nationals and enter (where you can) in their work. Service at this juncture in our history is much more about being than doing. It is about...

Jun 18 2024

  Being in Quito has been an enlightening experience for all our students and faculty as we visited incredibly interesting and beautiful places that enriched our minds and souls. During these six weeks, we relished the classes, reflection sessions, readings,...

Jun 18 2024

In our last week of study, SST students and faculty were hosted by peers at Instituto Universitario Tecnológico Rumiñahui, in Sangolqui, Ecuador. The day was full of information, cultural exchanges, games, English-Spanish conversation practice, and history lessons. We learned that...

Jun 17 2024

Oswaldo Guayasamin (1919-1999) is considered one of the most important visual artists of the 20th century, not only in Ecuador or Latin America, but in the world. His work is visually vibrant, emotionally compelling, and politically engaged. He depicted scenes...

Jun 14 2024

  For our last week of traveling as a group, we took the road to Cotopaxi National Park, a natural reserve on the foothills of Cotopaxi, a volcano that erupted 87 times, produced hills and valleys, and offers and impressive...

Jun 14 2024

One of our focuses during this course has been the history of Northern Ireland, specifically the Troubles, the particularly intense period of conflict between Catholics and Protestants that took place from 1968 to 1998. Derry was at the center of...

Jun 12 2024

Just as the title implies, the day starts FAST! Alarms blare at 8 AM sharp to catch a quick breakfast. We assemble at 9 AM to depart on our usual 40-minute walk down the coast towards our bus, which departs...