Help, Learn & Discover. Those Words Say It All!

It may sound like a cliche, but this trip has truly been a life changing experience. The 4 weeks weeks I have spend in Ecuador were diverse to say the least. There are three main components to this "Ecuaexperience", as the title suggests; Help, Learn & Discover. Before anything else, I would highly recommend this program to any students or individuals contemplating whether or not they want to partake in Ecuaexperience.

The first week, out of the four, consisted of shadowing doctors and learning various medical procedures; in other words the "Learn" aspect of the program. Understandably so, we were required to learn some basic anatomy and procedures before heading to the hospital. In my opinion learning about the surgeries/procedures before witnessing them allowed for a better understanding and also allowed us to ask questions to the extremely knowledgeable tutors that helped us along the way. Learning from a textbook is one thing, observing is a whole different matter. For example, observing a hip replacement surgery may seem like a smooth procedure, whereas in reality it is quite rough and requires a fair amount of brute force. In other words, practical observation provides an immersive experience that allows an individual to realize if they would like to pursue a similar career path. For some fellow students this experience reignited their passion to follow their dreams and work even harder in school to pursue it. I can say with confidence that this experience has impacted every individual along side me in one way or another!

The latter part of the second week along with the last five days consisted of us "Discovering" Ecuador itself. We had the opportunity to travel to various cities across Ecuador. We got to hike in the Amazon Forest and go tubing in the Napo River! We also got to tour around Quito and observe the main landmarks of the city. My personal favourite was Canoa Beach, which consisted of surfing, an "Amazing Race", and enjoying time with the life-long friends that were made throughout the amazing trip. Surely I am missing many other cities; there are many more places that a prospective individual will discover.

The backbone of the trip was definitely Pujili where we helped build houses and interacted with the community. I remember we were taken to the previous residence of the families that are going to move into the new houses. The living conditions of these previous houses are minimal to say the least. The mud and straw-roofed "house" consists of one room where they eat, sleep and do other essential activities such as cooking. Furthermore, proximity is a major problem. The schools are very far away that make attendance a hassle. By providing homes closer to schools ensures a higher probability of academic success. And I truly believe that the education of children is a leading cure of poverty. Getting a chance to improve circumstances for the families, especially the children, is an extremely rewarding experience.

Once again, I highly recommend this program to anyone that is interested in this amazing opportunity. Jose and Juan (frontrunners for this program) do a phenomenal job running the program as smoothly as could be. This has been an incredible trip, to say the least!