Global Engagement

Nov 14 2021

Nov 12 2021

My service location is in Pedro Vicente Maldonado, a small city about 2 and a half hours drive from Quito in the coastal region of Ecuador. However, the coast is still quite a ways away. To Esmeraldas, the closest coastal...

Nov 06 2021

Cayambe, a very beautiful town in Ecuador that’s 1hr and a half away from the capital of Quito. Cayambe is also the third highest volcano in Ecuador, and not only that, it’s also right in the middle of the earth....

Nov 02 2021

My day began unlike any other I had experienced at Salinas de Guaranda. After a simple breakfast of a boiled egg and tea, I struck out for yet another day of burning music for the local radio station. But I...

Oct 19 2021

Oct 12 2021

The Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism (ISGA) director John D. Roth has published a new book, titled “A Cloud of Witnesses: Celebrating Indonesian Mennonites,”detailing the history of three streams of Anabaptist-Mennonite church groups in Indonesia, tracing the 170-year history...

Oct 12 2021

We had a good final week of classes, wrapping up the “study” portion of the term that makes up our Study-Service term namesake. On Friday evening the students hosted all the host families and other program partners for a despedida,...

Oct 09 2021

As a part of her SST experience, Amanda has been involved in a special sign language track here in Ecuador in which she has been dividing her morning class time between learning spanish and sign language. Beyond her individual class...

Oct 04 2021

Sep 28 2021

Sep 21 2021

This week after a couple days of class we made the trek west through the mountains to the region of Mindo for an extended weekend. The lush cloud forest was a refreshing break from the congested concrete valley of Quito.

Sep 11 2021

Orientation and the first week of class are already behind us! Wow, we’ve already covered a lot of ground! I think everyone felt like the time has flown by.  Here is a glimpse of the story in pictures:    

Sep 03 2021

On Tuesday evening our SSTers arrived safely in Ecuador and are beginning their orientation to their new Ecuador surroundings! One student has been held up by visa issues. We are working hard to remedy the problem and plans are taking shape...

Aug 29 2021

  Yep, you got it, we’re back! For all of you who forgot you were subscribed, get ready, we’ve got a new adventure coming your way! After more than a year and half of Study-Service Term (SST) unit cancelations we...

Jul 26 2021

Savannah Roth Walter is a sociology major. Saying goodbye is never easy- especially after spending our days interacting with the wonderful kids and staff at the Peace Academic Center. However, the last day of camp caught up to us quickly....

Jul 26 2021

Natalie Hazbun is a senior social work major and the author of this post. Reading, other than math, is one of the emphases of the Peace Academic Center. Reading camp started out with the usual routine of the bus picking...

Jul 26 2021

Hayley Bickford is a senior majoring in Psychology with a Business minor. After a long week of math camp, we escaped to Utah for a weekend retreat. We woke up early Saturday morning to head out. On our way, though,...

Jul 23 2021

Landon is a junior who is majoring in Biology. Throughout our journeys in the Navajo and Hopi nations, we are required to share our thoughts, themes and emergent experiences via journal entries. Three times a week, students are given journal...

Jul 20 2021

Mariah Kaufman is a senior who is double majoring in Music and Secondary Education. On Wednesday, we had our largest attendance at Math Camp thus far- a grand 23 students showed up and outnumbered us. With a steady increase in...

Jul 20 2021

Gabe Beck is a senior who is majoring in chemistry and secondary education. This week marked the beginning of Summer Math Camp at the Peace Academic Center, and our group had the wonderful opportunity of getting to plan and run...

Jul 15 2021

Our first few days on Hopi land have been filled with pottery sherds—not shards as I had previously thought—petroglyphs, ruins, and other pieces of the past. Monday’s trip began with a very bumpy 40-minute drive, after which Erik and Lance...

Jul 13 2021

Josh Friesen is a Senior biochemistry major with a Spanish minor. This past Thursday, we were fortunate enough to be able to spend a day at Grand Canyon National Park, and naturally it was exciting to be able to visit...

Jul 13 2021

Jared Juarez Salgado is a sophomore at Goshen College with a major in biochemistry and a minor in Spanish. During our stay in the Navajo reservation we had the opportunity to learn about Navajo customs and also practices. One day...

Jul 09 2021

Elizabeth Reimer, the author of this post, is a double major in Bible and Religion and Peace Justice & Conflict Studies. On Sunday, we transitioned from Navajo to Hopi. We said goodbye to our gracious hosts at Black Mountain Mennonite...