Life in the Middle of the World

I recently returned to the office after spending several weeks in Ecuador, a South American country approximately the size of Colorado. It's name, not surprisingly, provides geographic reference to its location along the Equator.

The trip was the inaugural year of an International Service-Learning course through the University of Denver focused on International Education. Two of the weeks were spent in the rural farming communities of Borja and Chaco, located in the Amazon Basin. The scenery provided a significant contrast to the Rockies in December...trade the snow for rain, the evergreens for broad-leafed cecropias, the big horned sheep for capybaras and you have Ecuador (almost).

The idea of the trip was to work with local schools in some kind of reciprocal manner: many of the participants on the course were studying education/social work/international relations, while also learning Spanish. All the students in the Ecuadorian schools were working on English, as part of a mandated curriculum.

While Ecuador and the United States share as many differences as they do similarities, one thing I can say for certain is that kids are kids, everywhere you go. Accepting, fun-loving, intelligent, creative and incredibly perceptive. One of the units at the local high school must have been environmental education because the school was covered with colorful student artwork reminding us to conserve natural resources, or to stop polluting. To a community that is very connected to the land through its ways of living and sources of income (farming), I would guess these ideas might be more intuitive.

Back in the States, we are excited about the recent Spanish translation of our Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids (PEAK) program. Through these efforts, we are hopeful that the program will be able to engage an even broader audience of tomorrow's environmental stewards.

That said, we look forward to continued growth of our educational programs in the new year and wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.

Feliz Viajes!