Compass Juniors Return from Ecuador Expedition

Submitted by Rick Gordon on Wed, 03/03/2010 - 9:08am

             The Compass School junior class just returned from the annual Global Connections Expedition, an international immersion experience for the whole 11th grade class. After traveling to Mexico the past three years, this year’s trip involved a fourteen-day service-learning project in Ecuador—a land of majestic landscapes with pointed hills, lush green farmland, and high cheek boned, wonderful people with the biggest hearts. Students experienced connections with a wide range of perspectives beyond their borders as they completed farm work, which included a 4 a.m. milking of Brown Swiss Cows, sheering llamas, haying, and making yogurt and cheese as well as numerous building projects within a variety of communities.  Living and working with indigenous families challenged each 11th grader to use their Spanish speaking skills and participate directly in day-to-day chores which ranged from quinoa and potato harvesting to preparing meals over an open fire.

            As we adjust to traditional Vermont life, we cannot help but think how our amazing Ecuadorian adventure has forever changed our lives. Everyday at school students reminisce about making adobe tiles with Vicente, one of the rural village elders,  bonding with elementary-aged children over art projects, tunneling through Ecuador’s cavernous water systems guided by headlamp, and how the many other learning experiences have changed their lives. Among many challenges and successes as a junior class, we created a stronger community and learned how to coexist in harmony and with the natural world.

          Our days were filled with amazing, hands-on learning adventures that taught us about the environment, community, team building, and the satisfaction that comes with serving the greater community. We arrived in Ecuador where we were greeted by our patient and thoughtful guides, Mathias and Nicole from Nahual Expeditions. Some of the cultural activities we did in Ecuador included cooking authentic Ecuadorian meals over an open fire, making our adobe tiles into a wall for a shed, adventuring out into the hedgerows of the farm to collect firewood for our cooking fire, completing daily farm-related chores, and learning about coffee processing over the richest, freshly-brewed drink. We were lucky enough to spend an entire morning hiking out to a coffee nursery, learning about what it takes to grow these amazing plants, and then venturing off deeper into the forest delivering several new plants from their birthplace to their new permaculture home. 

         Guided by knowledgeable locals, we had informative ecological and biodiversity lectures in places like the innards of gigantic strangler fig tree deep in a primary forest. We gardened on the farm and also with our host families while discussing Ecuador’s fascinating migration patterns.  We learned about the Intag community’s resistance to a polluting, multinational copper mine through a passionate group who gave us a tour of their grassroots radio station, assembled completely from recycled and donated parts. We started and ended each day in reflection at sit-spots, which transitioned into whole group sharing time. We learned how to travel with 20 people and the sensitivity and responsibilities that come with this sort of opportunity. We enjoyed viewing the most amazing handcrafts at South America’s largest outdoor market, Otavalo, and the many bus rides that took us all over the incredible landscape of northern Ecuador.

       While the Global Connections Program is built around international service and connections, much of its power involves how it impacts Compass students. As Ariel Temple wrote that after this trip, "Both physically and mentally I am more fit and sound than I ever have been.” Aliana Bloch detailed similar feelings in her final reflection, "I had a lot of successes personally. I feel like I've needed to get out of my routine at home and school. Having an experience like this has opened my eyes to a lot of things I think I've been trying to see. I'm hoping that when I return home, I will still be able to hold on to this point of view I've gained here because I feel healthier and more balanced than I have ever before. I've also really appreciated having the leadership of Mathias and Nicole on this trip because I really admire their way of life and it's been great they they've shared their perspective with all of us. They are both incredible people and I feel like meeting both of them has helped me understand a little bit more about how I want to live my life."

            The Compass junior class has many stories to tell and many beautiful photos that seek to capture the essence of what was experienced. We are eager to share our stories and learnings with our friends, families and the greater public. We plan to begin presenting tales of our journey towards the end of March.

 

            The Compass School junior class just returned from the annual Global Connections Expedition, an international immersion experience for the whole 11th grade class. After traveling to Mexico the past three years, this year’s trip was a fourteen-day service-learning project in Ecuador—a land of majestic landscapes with pointed hills, lush green farmland, and high cheek boned, wonderful people with the biggest hearts. Students experienced connections with a wide range of perspectives beyond their borders as they completed farm work, which included a 4 a.m. milking of Brown Swiss Cows, sheering llamas, haying, and making yogurt and cheese as well as numerous building projects within a variety of communities.  Living and working with indigenous families challenged each 11th grader to use their Spanish speaking skills and participate directly in day-to-day chores which ranged from quinoa and potato harvesting to preparing meals over an open fire.

            As we adjust to traditional Vermont life, we cannot help but think how our amazing Ecuadorian adventure has forever changed our lives. Everyday at school students reminisce about making adobe tiles with Vicente, one of the rural village  elders,  bonding with elementary-aged children over art projects, tunneling through Ecuador’s cavernous water systems guided by headlamp, and how the many other learning experiences have changed their lives. Among many challenges and successes as a junior class, we created a stronger community and learned how to coexist in harmony and with the natural world.

 

Our days were filled with amazing, hands-on learning adventures that taught us about the environment, community, team building, and the satisfaction that comes with serving the greater community. We arrived in Ecuador and our patient and thoughtful guides, Mathias and Nicole from Nahual Expeditions, greeted us. The students said that these extraordinarily gifted guides were the key ingredient to our educationally vibrant trip. Some of the cultural activities we did in Ecuador include cooking authentic Ecuadorian meals over an open fire, making our adobe tiles into a wall for a shed, adventuring out into the hedgerows of the farm to collect firewood for our cooking fire, completing daily farm-related chores, and learning about coffee processing over the richest, freshly-brewed drink. We were lucky enough to spend an entire morning hiking out to a coffee nursery, learning about what it takes to grow these amazing plants, and then venturing off deeper into the forest delivering several new plants from their birthplace to their new permaculture home. 

Guided by knowledgeable locals, we had informative ecological and biodiversity lectures in places like the innards of gigantic strangler fig tree deep in a primary forest.  We gardened on the farm and also with our host families while discussing Ecuador’s fascinating migration patterns.  We learned about the Intag community’s resistance to apolluting, multinational copper mine through a passionate group who gave us a tour of their grassroots radio station, assembled completely from recycled and donated parts.  We started and ended each day in reflection at sit-spots, which transitioned into whole group sharing time. We learned how to travel with 20 people and the sensitivity and responsibilities that come with this sort of opportunity.  We enjoyed viewing the most amazing handcrafts at South America’s largest outdoor market, Otavalo, and the many bus rides that took us all over the incredible landscape of northern Ecuador.

While the Global Connections Program is built around international service and connections, much of its power involves how it impacts Compass students. As Ariel Temple wrote that after this trip, "Both physically and mentally I am more fit and sound than I ever have been.” Aliana Bloch detailed similar feelings in her final reflection, "I had a lot of successes personally. I feel like I've needed to get out of my routine at home and school. Having an experience like this has opened my eyes to a lot of things I think I've been trying to see. I'm hoping that when I return home, I will still be able to hold on to this point of view I've gained here because I feel healthier and more balanced than I have ever before. I've also really appreciated having the leadership of Mathias and Nicole on this trip because I really admire their way of life and it's been great they they've shared their perspective with all of us. They are both incredible people and I feel like meeting both of them has helped me understand a little bit more about how I want to live my life."

            The Compass junior class has many stories to tell and many beautiful photos that seek to capture the essence of what was experienced. We are eager to share our stories and learnings with our friends, families and the greater public. We plan to begin presenting tales of our journey towards the end of March.