Study Abroad

May 06 2026

by Mike McHugh Sunday evening our group arrived in Lahaina by caravan–we were grateful for the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) leadership team who picked up all 17 us of and our luggage in three vehicles! For the next two weeks,…

May 04 2026

By Dahlia Thut and Josh Chupp On the first full day of the Guatemala May Term SST, our group visited a program called Puerta de Esperanza, which means Door of Hope. Puerta de Esperanza is located just outside of La…

May 02 2026

by Mike McHugh We arrived at Camp Pi’iholo at about 10PM on Wednesday night exhausted from our bus ride, multiple plane rides (complete with a short layover where we literally exited our plane and shuffled into the boarding line for…

May 01 2026

Ever wondered what SST leaders do during the month before students arrive? Here are a few glimpses of what life has looked like as we prepare.

May 01 2026

by, Roy Jackson After one bus, two planes, one train, and more than 20 hours of door-to-door travel, the Global Literature in London class has arrived safely—albeit a bit disoriented and jet-lagged. After settling in at St. Athans Hotel in Bloomsbury,…

Apr 30 2026

By Elizabeth Miller Morning: Good morning from Guatemala! Enjoy this view from the garden of the Semilla campus, which we be our home base for the duration of our course. We have a full day today, including an opening orientation and…

Apr 29 2026

by Mike McHugh Here’s to hoping that we do not endure as many travel mishaps on our journey to Lahaina as Steve Martin and John Candy experienced in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! As I write this we are settled into our large bus…

Apr 27 2026

Puerto Rico, here we come!  As we wrapped up the semester and baseball season this past week, we are now turning our attention to our time in Puerto Rico in May.  It will be a unique experience centered on reflections…

Apr 24 2026

by Mike McHugh Next week we depart for Lahaina to join the many hands that have spent the last few years helping build homes for families impacted by the 2023 wildfires. Today, I want to share with you another great…

Apr 21 2026

Only a few days until we embark for London! Roy Jackson and his husband Richard Orr are excited to be leading the Global Literature in London SST.

Apr 19 2026

Only 10 days until we embark for Guatemala! Elizabeth Miller and Neil Richer are excited to be leading the “Youth and Resilience” Guatemala SST this year, accompanied by their two daughters.

Apr 16 2026

Hillary Harder and Micah Detweiler will lead the summer 2026 SST unit in Ecuador.

Apr 14 2026

by Mike McHugh Welcome to this year’s SST blog for the Environmental Disaster and Response with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) May term course. This year we will be traveling to Lahaina, Hawai’i to work with MDS to build homes that…

Apr 06 2026

On Wednesday, everyone returned to Quito, and we were reunited! It was a joy to spend four precious days together sharing stories from service, laughing and singing together, and processing who we want to be when we return home. The…

Apr 01 2026

I’m stationed in the town of Latacunga for service, and am working with an organization called Pastoral Social Cáritas. One of the projects that the organization is working on is a farm in San Pablo, which is about a 25-minute…

Mar 30 2026

One Friday while my host mom was traveling, my host relatives Bethany, Paulina, and Tito took care of me. We explored their town, Guano, including playing at a park and going to a bakery. We went out again at night…

Mar 25 2026

This Indonesia 2026 Community Engaged Learning blog series was compiled and edited using excerpts from a photo essay assignment submitted by our students. We hope you enjoy these snapshots from the second half of SST. Kupang is home for three…

Mar 25 2026

At the foundation, “Su cambio por el cambio,” I work with elderly people in the mornings. I enjoy playing games, leading activities, and learning about their lives every day. The majority of the elderly who go to the foundation live…

Mar 25 2026

This Indonesia 2026 Community Engaged Learning blog series was compiled and edited using excerpts from a photo essay assignment submitted by our students. We hope you enjoy these snapshots from the second half of SST. Three of our students flew…

Mar 25 2026

This Indonesia 2026 Community Engaged Learning blog series was compiled and edited using excerpts from a photo essay assignment submitted by our students. We hope you enjoy these snapshots from the second half of SST. One of our SSTers stayed…

Mar 25 2026

This Indonesia 2026 Community Engaged Learning blog series was compiled and edited using excerpts from a photo essay assignment submitted by our students. We hope you enjoy these snapshots from the second half of SST. Salatiga is a small, compact…

Mar 25 2026

This Indonesia 2026 Community Engaged Learning blog series was compiled and edited using excerpts from a photo essay assignment submitted by our students. We hope you enjoy these snapshots from the second half of SST. Semarang is a coastal city…

Mar 23 2026

This photo depicts my host sister Areli interacting with the owner of a small market close to my host family’s house in Puyo. My host family often has me take their electric moped to this store in the evenings to…

Mar 21 2026

I freely admit that I’m nuts about birds. In Ecuador, I’ve been carrying my binoculars with me everywhere to search for birds in each hedge, telephone wire, and garden. My sincerest apologies to my fellow SSTers who are likely fed…