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The first words I heard used to describe my service town were hot and buggy. Upon hearing this I was a little apprehensive about what service would have in store for me and how my body would respond to the...
Most of SST is not glamorous. There are times of incredible joy and sadness, comedic moments, and discomfort certainly, but the majority of the time is very normal. For example: doing laundry. My host family doesn’t have a washing machine,...
Hello again Summer 2023 Ecuador SST blog readers. It’s been a couple of weeks since we checked in with you and my has it been busy. There is a myth that circulates about SST leadership regarding a time of relaxation...
Ana Yoder makes connections with a favorite childhood memory: A Diné College student named Travis Mammedaty shared some Kiowa songs with us. A song that stood out to me in particular was a children’s song called the “Prairie Dog Song”...
Fae Sommers reflects on an unforgettable road trip: You can learn a lot about someone in 300 miles. Lukas, Jonathan, Micah and I stayed with our host father, pastor Daniel Smiley of Black Mountain Mennonite Church. On our second day...
Micah reflects on our visit to Cliff Palace, an Ancestral Pueblo archaeological site in Mesa Verde National Park: The story I would like to reflect on today took place at Cliff Palace, a cliff dwelling of the Pueblo people who...
What happens when thirteen eager Goshen College students step off an Amtrak train in Albuquerque, New Mexico to begin experiencing Indigenous cultures in the Desert Southwest? We’ll let the students themselves tell you their stories… Reflections...
As you may have noticed if you have been following along with this blog or if you have had the opportunity to experience SST firsthand yourself, you know that it is simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting, fulfilling and draining, beautiful and...
Welcome to the 2023 Hopi Navajo Study Service Term! This summer’s group from Goshen College begins their adventure aboard an Amtrak train headed west. The students start in the lush green farmland of the Midwest and travel across the country...
In the first of two multi-region treks, this week we headed up through a freezing cold mountain pass at nearly 14,000 feet east of Quito and descended quickly down the eastern flank of the Andes mountains into the beginning of…
Whew…….what a week in Ecuador. Typically, our more eventful moments together are interspersed with travel around the country during the study portion of SST. However, this week, although our activities were mostly in and around Quito, it was a time...
One of the many unique elements of Ecuador is the unusually diverse and high proportion of the population that is fully indigenous to this region. With as many as 16 distinct people groups and another 18 subsets of those groups,...
We ended the second full week of SST on an eventful note, spending a few days in the beautiful Ecuadorian cloud forest. The transition from the high-altitude valley in Quito, through a short stretch of dry dusty mountainsides, followed by...
As the first full week of classes wrapped up this past Friday, students headed home to spend the weekend with their families. They had the unique opportunity to celebrate Mother’s Day with their new host mothers, and the chance to...
A new group of students has landed in Ecuador, just south of the Equator. Students often debate amongst themselves just what it means to “go on SST”. In the lore of SST, there are stories of physical hardship, living far...
One of the sacred elements of the SST structure is the final retreat in which students regather from their service locations for a final time together of rest and reflection before returning home. In Ecuador, our retreat location has been...
On Tuesday April 4 we took a bus from Musoma to Mwanza where we spent one night to enable our very early morning flight to Zanzibar. We lugged our bags to the bus at 4:45 a.m. and after a layover...
Monday April 3, 2023 Yesterday the students safely returned from their respective towns to Musoma! It was a joyous reunion for the students, as many had not seen one another for 5 weeks. The following day, on Monday, we hosted...
Friday March 24, 2023 Naomi – Lake Victoria Disability Center On Friday we visited Naomi and Trevor at their respective service locations in Musoma. Naomi is assisting at the Lake Victoria Disability Center, a non-profit that seeks to provided vocational...
Looking out from a small pueblo in Imbabura Province. I’ve been given the opportunity of using my real eye, my camera, for my service placement. There’s a quote I love (that I can’t remember who or how it is said...
Thursday March 23, 2023 We started our day meeting Destiny at Paroma Primary school on the outskirts of Musoma. This is a private “English Medium” school – meaning it teaches students all subjects using English instead of Kiswahili – for...
As our second week of visits to service locations concluded, students and leaders came to the realization that this chapter of SST is quickly drawing to a close. The end of SST always brings a mixture of emotions; sadness, joy,...
Saturday March 18 – Monday March 20 Saturday mid-day we arrived in Kemgesi, a short 1 hour drive from Mugumu. We met Billy and Emily who were hanging out in the their favorite canteen on main street Kemgesi. It was...
This past week we set out on our cherished SST tradition of visits to students at their service locations. Our first stop was to visit our students in the cloud forest and Amazonian rainforest locations on the west and east...
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