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FIRST INTERNATIONAL SERVICE TRIP TO ECUADOR
First international service trip to Ecuador impacts local community and RU members
On May 17, 2022, 18 students and three Rockford University faculty began a week-long transformational journey to serve a small, rural community in Ecuador through a multidisciplinary serve-and-study abroad trip.
It was the culmination of a vision started when Dr. Deepshikha Shukla, Dean of the College of Science, Math and Nursing and Associate Professor of Physics, began organizing the study abroad trip in 2019.
The trip included a three-tiered project to learn about the culture of the community while providing service and support to encourage learning and play. The team — led by Julie Griffith, Assistant Director of Office of Global Affairs; Dr. Amy Martin, Assistant Professor of Psychology; and Dr. Kelly Monson, Director of Graduate Studies and Assistant Professor of Education — guided the psychology and physics students through a cross-cultural experience that integrated their study-abroad academic experience with service.
Rockford University partnered with Kids Around the World, an outreach organization established in Rockford to build a playground in the Portoviejo area in the province of Manabi in Ecuador. After three rewarding and challenging days of building the playground, the Rockford University students and faculty had the privilege of celebrating with the community and local government while watching the children play.
“This experience far exceeded the expectations I had going into the trip,” said Griffith. “Seeing how grateful and excited the local community was about a playground is unforgettable. These families will be impacted for many years to come thanks to the safe space this playground creates for their community.”
The six physics students were able to connect with the children in the community each morning. They planned physics lessons that were shared in the community school with children ranging in ages from six to fourteen years old.
The psychology students visited members of the community in their homes and interviewed local families to learn more
about their culture. Additionally, students were able to interview and connect with other psychology university students, learning about higher education and cultural norms in Ecuador. Martin established the course and created opportunities with our partners from Kids Around the World to connect with the families in the community we served.
“We enjoyed the excitement of the students as they engaged in learning and connected to the visitors in their classroom,” said Monson. “Our students were able to immediately engage and build relationships with the local students, despite the language barrier, and were able to accomplish all of their academic goals.”
“This trip reminded me how even when in difficult situations, with language and cultural barriers, you can still make connections and impacts on students,” said Allison Callaway, class of 2024. “Seeing the smiling faces of those students gave me the strength and motivation to continue in what I am doing; in my goal to help children not only in Rockford but around the world. I will be forever grateful for this experience, as I have learned so much from these brilliant young children.”
DESCRIBING THE EXPERIENCE
Students were asked to provide a word and story that summarized the impact of their trip to Ecuador. The impact terms included: transforming, reassuring, radiant, inspiring, rewarding, growth, unexpected, eye-opening, courageous, involved, holistic, positive, humbling, and evolutionary.
“My word for the trip is ‘transformation.’ Transformation of the mind, the soul, and the things we did as a group. We transformed an area of land into a safe, happy place for children to learn, grow, be creative, and thrive. We transformed our hearts and allowed new people to come into our world and change our perspective and outlook. We transformed each other's expectations by showing humility. We have become more than what we were when we left, and we are growing closer with each other. We have created lasting memories and reflections with the community we helped, with the Kids Around the World team. We have paved the way for new things to be possible, and we have transformed into something better. We worked together to truly experience and feel the mission.” — Kaylynn Hayward ’22
“My one word is ‘radiant.’ From the serene sunrise on the beach where we stretched each morning and mentally prepared for the day, to the speed of new friendships, to the big smiles of the children as we taught them science lessons at their school, to the unimaginably bright laughter of those same children at the playground as we danced and ran and played with them ... everything had a glowing radiance to it. And, this may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much: Even the food had a radiating glow of perfection to it. This trip allowed us to radiate our love into the community and, in return, radiated positivity back into our lives, keeping us well fed. Physically, of course, but also mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually” — Elijah Lowry ’23
