Ecuador

Study

Everywhere you turn in this relatively small country, you encounter a diversity of natural environments and cultures. For the first six weeks, students live with host families in Quito, a bustling capital city of about 2.5 million people located at nearly 10,000 feet elevation. Students have Spanish language classes each day, as well as seminars and field trips covering aspects of Ecuadorian culture and history.

Indigenous cultures are a key theme in this SST location. Students visit indigenous commumities, and those already fluent in Spanish have the opportunity to learn some Kichwa–an indigenous language. Among our partners is the Cofán Survival Fund, an NGO dedicated to the preservation of the Cofán indigenous culture and their Amazonian home.

Sustainability is another emphasis. Thanks to a generous donor who funds carbon on-sets for SST travel, Goshen College was able to support two solar projects in locations where SSTers have service assignments. SSTers visit these projects and learn about their contexts.

Service

For the second half of their three-month stay, students spread out to smaller communities across the Ecuadorian highlands to live with new host families and complete work assignments. Service assignments may include work with educational, artistic, environmental, health care, social service or agricultural organizations.