A truly life changing and eye opening experience e

Ecuaexperience is a once in a lifetime oppertunity for all students. Being a student it is difficult to fit in time to travel in our busy schedules. HLD offers the perfect chance for students to fit travelling, volunteer experience, medical experience, and extraordinary activities into 28 days! For me this was perfect as taking more than one month of school is not practical. This program embodies so much. The first time I went was in August of 2012 and I did the Bio-Med program, which I would say is the best for its value. I had the most amazing time, especially as this program includes a trip to the Galápagos Islands which by itself is a once in a lifetime oppertunity. The week you spend in these islands is beyond amazing as you get the chance to travel from island to island experiencing t he uniqueness each has to offer, volcanoes, giant tortoises, spectacular marine life... What is good about going to such a place with HLD is that you are taken to locations which would be difficult and not to mention much more expensive if one were to plan a trip on their own. Also, a lot of the locations are not very touristy therefore you may not come across them while looking online. The learn part of this trip includes medical rotations which are again a very rare and beyond amazing oppertunity especially if you are interested or considering a career in medicine. You are able to explore the private and public sectors of health care and step into the role of doctor by shadowing some of Ecuador's top doctors and surgeons. This experience solidified my love for becoming a health care professional and increased my motivation to do so. Watching surgeons operate during rotations in the O.R was especially unreal as I witnessed an open knee surgery and a facial reconstruction while standing right next to plastic surgeons, trauma surgeons and neurosurgeons. The help part of this program became the most close to my heart especially the second time I went on this trip as I did the volunteer program this time. We volunteered for almost 2 weeks and the amount of time we spent interacting with the families and young children of the village made it very hard to say goodbye. I learned so much from the amazing people of Camarones and miss them alot. One thing I really appreciate about this program is that all the money you fundraise you take down to Ecuador and you buy the materials so you know where 100% of your donations are going. And personally knowing the families who are working alongside with you makes it that much more heartfelt and real. It makes you see that you really are making a huge difference. The last part of this trip which I would like to discuss is the travel and activities part. There is a lot of travelling and every minute is worth it for all the things you get to see, Ecuador is filled with unreal sights; mountains, volcanoes, the coast line, the middle of the world, and much more. You get to experience all of Ecuador's diversity! I would highly recommend travelling with this organization it is most definitely an amazing opportunity. You make lifelong connections with amazing people, the staff is aweosme, and you witness things which you would never even imagine.