Off To a Strong Start in Ecuador

We arrived safely to Quito late on December 13 and have hit the ground running. After settling into Casa Goshen and organizing the living room to accommodate 21 people during our Casa Goshen afternoons (we will be cozy!), we began working with our local partners to prepare the unit. 

Our local coordinator, Klever, has been instrumental in orienting and introducing us to the team that helps make the program possible. We’ve worked together to finalize the schedule for the term, assign students and host families, and hold a gathering to meet our Quito host families. We are honored by the warm welcome and hospitality of the families.

Silvia, Loli, and Fernanda will provide Spanish instruction to the students during our first six weeks in Quito. Silvia and Loli are tutoring us in these first weeks to improve our Spanish skills.

Our preparations took us outside of Quito to visit with partners related to service assignments. In San Miguel de los Bancos, we met Veronica, the director of the Unidad Educativa Fe y Alegria school. In Mindo, Klever Tello introduced us to the Parque Infantil (children’s park) and Mirador (lookout tower), where Goshen College helped fund solar-powered lights to create safer environments in the city. During our trip to Mindo this semester, we will plant trees with Klever in an effort to offset our carbon footprint from the flights to Ecuador.

In the next two weeks, we will continue traveling to service locations, meeting host families, and finalizing lectures and excursions. We are eager for the students to arrive!