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This blog captures the experiences of Goshen College students participating in Study-Service Term in Ecuador.
Over the course of the semester, students are living with host families, strengthening their Spanish, learning alongside Indigenous communities, and engaging in service that connects local realities with global questions. From the Andes to coastal regions, Ecuador offers a powerful setting for hands-on learning shaped by culture, community, and care. Through these reflections, readers are invited into the everyday moments, challenges, and discoveries that are shaping how students understand the world and their place within it.
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…
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…
At the end of week 2, we began our trips to visit students in their service assignments. This week took us north of Quito to Imbabura province to visit Ray and Izzy in Ibarra and Micah and Alina in Otavalo.…
In preparation to leave for their service assignments last week, the students discussed what “service” means. Rather than thinking of this service period as work, they defined it as: the opportunity to be part of something larger in Ecuador giving…
It is a bittersweet weekend as we said goodbye to our Quito host families and each other and ventured off to our service placements. Our study portion in Quito culminated with a despedida (farewell) fiesta on Friday to thank our…
We’re experiencing lots of fun and smiles during our final week in Quito! Today, Gaby taught us how to salsa dance. There were lots of laughs as we loosened up, flung our arms, twirled our hips, and spun to the…
As we enter the final week of our study portion of the term, it is amazing to reflect on all of the sights and experiences Ecuador has offered us so far: from hummingbird sanctuaries in the cloud forest to participating…
We are halfway through our study portion and our language skills are improving, slowly but surely. Each morning is spent in Spanish language classes with our three wonderful teachers, Silvia, Loli, and Fernanda. They help reinforce vocabulary and common phrases…
This weekend, we visited the beautiful city of Mindo in the cloudforest. In an effort to onset our carbon footprint from the flights to Ecuador, we partnered with our friend Klever Tello, an employee in the Mindo municipal government, in…
We had an active weekend! Many host families took their students on adventures in and around Quito. They visited Parque Metropolitano, centro histórico, teleférico, Otavalo, Pichincha, Parque Bicentenario, Mitad del Mundo, Lago San Pablo, Nono, Tabacundo, among others. Here are…
This week, we became acquainted with Ecuador’s history and art, beginning with a tour of churches in Quito’s centro histórico. One of the largest and most notable is the Basilica, which serves as a large cultural and religious landmark in…
The Ecuador SST unit kicked off their first few days in Quito.
Students in the spring 2026 Ecuador SST unit arrived safely to Quito.
The Ecuador SST leaders arrived in Quito and preparations for the unit are underway.
Jan Kauffman and Kristin Waltner will lead the spring 2026 SST unit to Ecuador.
Since being stationed in the town of Mindo for my service portion of SST, I’ve noticed a big cultural difference between U.S. Mennonites and Ecuadorian “Mindo-nites” – pun intended 🙂 approaches to life. There’s a palpable sense of serenity and…
For my service, I work in Cayambe with an organization called FACE. Under FACE there are other organizations; Casa Hogar, Sumak, Centro Medico Emmanuel, and Forever Flowers. They work together to help break the cycle of abuse and neglect in…
While being in Ecuador, I’ve noticed how people value their history. It was so impressive and inspiring to see how much they know about their history. They’re not afraid to share it, even through their art. During my first weekend…
During my first week in my service placement town of Pujilí, I attended 4 different parades. The first one was on my second day here! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I knew that we were going to…
I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of a service organization in Ecuador that aligns with my interests and has been a lot of fun. The mission of my assignment is to combat deforestation in Ecuador. Throughout my time here,…
After the first six weeks in Quito, I had become more accustomed to the culture here and my Spanish had improved as well. I was able to understand what was going on around me most of the time and I…
We were so fortunate to meet Maria Virginia Farinango, the author of The Queen of Water. Students read this book together for class discussions. She writes of her experiences as an indigenous child forced into domestic service. Her path to…
Cayambe, a smaller city in Ecuador, is surrounded by indigenous communities spread throughout the surrounding mountains. Casa Hogar is an organization in Cayambe that houses children who have been removed from their families for varying reasons. The main goal of…
My experience in Ecuador has very likely been different from that of every other SST’er here. Yes, we took the same classes and went on the same trips. One of these included a few days in the town of Mindo…
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