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News
The first week of classes included lectures, museum visits, church tours, and silly games. On the weekend, students went out on adventures big and small with their host families. On Saturday morning, some students didn’t go on family outings....
Orientation for this year’s SST Ecuador group was packed full of activities, places to see and new people to meet. The first week of classes set us into a more quotidian rhythm of family life, academic activities, group discussions, and...
We could’t catch everyone, but we capture the pivotal moment of families picking up their “newest” members.
Saturday was a full day of orientation. We started the morning with a walk to UKDW, the university where our language classes will take place. On the way we stopped at Ibu Ning and Ibu Martha’s home so students meet...
Good morning (or whenever you are reading this)! After a few delays, interrupted sleep, and moments of uncertainty, the SST Spring 2024 group started orientation with a burst of energy, enthusiasm … and some silliness! As the students...
And they’re here! As the Indonesia 2024 SST leaders, my partner Ben & I have been in Indonesia for the past month, meeting with host families, language teachers, lecturers, and other partners. We have enjoyed settling into our house in...
Good morning! (or whenever you are reading this) After a few delays and moments of incertitude, the SST Spring 2024 group has started orientation! As the students were leaving home, Ecuador’s people suffer moments of tension, sadness, and fear. News...
An increasing number of Goshen College students join an SST course or semester as a way of exploring their own heritage. While some students prefer an adventure in a culture as different as possible from their own, others welcome the…
Summer 2023 Ecuador students returned to the capital city of Quito this past weekend from their six-week service placements in smaller cities and towns across five Ecuadorian provinces. Their final weekend retreat was held at a beautiful rural location in...
Craig Elias reflects on several of the service projects, or “community-engaged learning” activities, that our indigenous hosts invited us to participate in during the final weeks of our Navajo Hopi Study Service Term (SST): Today we talked as a group...
Jonathan Orjala shares about the early morning hike that came at the end of a five-day “camp meeting” at our host church on the Navajo Nation: The Sunday we left Black Mountain Mennonite Church, about ten of us woke up...
Alex Koscher shares his thoughts about the hospitality our group has received during our time in the Navajo Nation, contrasting it to what he encountered while stopping for lunch on the way to Grand Canyon National Park: Hospitality has often...
Estefania Soto shares what she learned about the land from our Navajo teachers, beginning with the creation myth and applying this to an experience that connected her to this place: During my time with the Navajo I’ve listened, learned, and...
Lukas Bontrager-Waite shares his insights after a challenging experience in the Chuska Mountains: There is a question that has especially been on my mind since this SST began: “what are we bound by?” Generally, my answer has always been the...
For Fourth of July the group headed out from Diné College and drove about an hour to the capital of the Navajo Nation, Window Rock. Our plan was to attend the Navajo Nation celebration, seeing traditional dancing, shopping at different...
Areli Guzman shares her thoughts on Navajo clans and her family’s heritage: Yá’ át’ ééh (Hello) Shi éi Areli yinishyé (I am called Areli) Ákót’ éego Naakai dine’ é asdzáán nishłí (In this way, I am a Mexican woman) Here...
My service has challenged me in a wide variety of ways. I have struggled to develop a routine and find my role within my service organization. Whenever I would take the initiative and ask what our purpose here was, our...
Teresa Ross Richer reflects on a key concept in Navajo culture: Balance: a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. In my culture, we do not seem to take to heart the concept of balance...
Virginia Jimenez shares her reflections on an inspiring presentation by a photography student at Diné College: At Diné College we met various Navajo people who shared their culture with us — one of them was a photography student, Candace Harrison,...
At this stage of the service portion of SST, a distinct highlight for me has been continuing to experience the abundance of natural beauty that Ecuador has to offer. In the study portion of SST, we were able to experience...
As is often the case on SST, I found myself one afternoon on a bus with essentially no knowledge of where I was going. My mom quickly explained that we were headed to a funeral, and I became concerned. “Did...
One of the first things you learn when you come to Ecuador is their love of choclo, which is essentially their variety of sweet corn. On one of our trips to different parts of Ecuador, we even drove past a...
Teaching two hours of English daily is no joke, especially when you have no teaching experience and are creating your own curriculum. Teachers and students alike get tired and worn out by the constant focus it takes to learn a...
I thought the initial bus ride from my study to service placement a few weeks ago was simultaneously the longest and shortest bus ride of my life. After finally getting comfortable with a schedule, host family, and fellow SSTers in...
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