Ecuador SST
February 13, 2025
SST leaders announced for spring ‘26
Leaders for the Ecuador and Indonesia Study Service Terms in spring 2026 were announced recently by the Global Engagement Office. Global citizenship is one of GC’s core values, and one of the ways it is fulfilled is through semester-long SSTs which are led by a faculty director and a resident director. For the Indonesia SST, Luke Beck Kreider will act as faculty director, and his spouse, Janie Beck Kreider, will act as resident director. In Ecuador, Duane Stoltzfus will act as faculty director, and his spouse, Karen Stoltzfus, will act as resident director. Jerrell Ross Richer, professor of economics and...
November 14, 2024
Ecuadorian grad students visit Goshen
This past week, a group of eight Ecuadorian student delegates from Rumiñahui University as well as current Ecuador Study Service Term coordinator Kléver Guevara, visited Goshen College and experienced a six-day immersion in the environment of GC and the City of Goshen. Both Guevara and the students were hosted by various community members, GC faculty and families and experienced a full schedule of local activities. Among the events that the group participated in was a welcome lunch with President Becky Stoltzfus, visits to several on-campus classes, meetings with several student groups including the Latino Student Union, the Black Student Union,...
November 14, 2024
SST enrollment drops
In 1983, at the height of Goshen College’s Study Service Term program, 82% of that year’s graduating class went on a semester SST and GC ran three to four programs each semester. Now, this past academic year, only 36 total students went on the three semester programs that were offered, which were Ecuador (twice) and Indonesia. A multitude of factors are at play in why exactly the numbers have drastically dropped so much — such as price, athletic responsibilities and overall appeal — but Kendra Yoder, co-chair of the Global Engagement Office, said that after attending a global education conference...
February 1, 2024
Ecuador SST ‘abundantly welcomed’
Over three weeks ago, the Ecuadorian government declared war against criminal groups and arrested thousands of gang members, ultimately leading to a sharp increase in gang-related activity. The recent violence follows a trend of organized crime that began around 20 years ago, following changes in drug restriction laws in South America. Despite current headlines about violence between the government of Ecuador and criminal groups along the coast, Goshen College students currently on SST there still feel safe and welcomed in their day-to-day lives. The students are currently housed in Quito, around six hours away from Guayaquil, a city that has...
September 30, 2022
GC students travel to Ecuador for summer SST
A group of 21 Goshen College students traveled to Ecuador to experience their Study-Service Term (SST) this past summer. Ecuador is a popular SST destination for students, and while many experiences are shared among the groups, there is always something that makes their time abroad unique. The group arrived in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, on May 6. During the journey there, Joel Yoder, class of 2022, began to think: “What am I doing? This was maybe a mistake.” “It was hard for me to realize I was actually going to another country for such a long time,” he added. “The...
November 4, 2021
SST returns in full swing
With the first post-pandemic Study Service Term (SST) unit going strong in Ecuador, Goshen College plans for a full return to international study this year, with a new twist. This spring and summer, traditional SST units will return to Indonesia and Senegal as well as Ecuador. Students will also participate in shorter, immersive experiences in Guatemala, India, London, Arizona and northern Indiana as part of a new alternative SST option. The group in Ecuador right now has six participants, but Jan Shetler, director of global engagement, said that, as concern around COVID-19 goes down, rosters for upcoming units have grown....