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 of wildly diverse experiences that brought us close to both…
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, the Ecuadorian indigenous population plays a significant role in the…
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 a downward descent into the lush cloud forest is a…
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 celebrate the scope of motherhood around the globe. The first…
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 from anything familiar. Those stories include showering with a bucket,…
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 housed at El Refugio “The Refuge”, a retreat center just…
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 so it’ll be butchered) that goes like this, “we often…
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, relief, and reflection about this unique experience. When students return…
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 sides of the giant Andean mountain range. Cloud forest is…
I have to admit, I was nervous. As I stood by the medical center in the crisp morning air and watched students continue to file out of a charter bus, my pulse increased. I was tasked to act as a translator for a group of physical therapy (“PT”) students from…
