Discover Ecuador: Camp Kuri Kucho

Between the hard work to improve a school, bucket showers, doing the dishes after each meal, and taking a Kichwa class, it's safe to say our students were removed from their comfort zone. Seeing my students in this light taught me so much about who they are outside of the classroom, their true potential, and who will go the extra mile.

Looking back to the first day, I see clean boots, smiling faces, and had not yet heard a complaint. After that hard day of work a few questions emerged..."Are we going to work everyday?" "Are we going to have time to play?" I knew my students were capable of so much, but I also knew they deserved some fun.

The inner, past camp counselor emerged, and I met with some of the camp leaders. We talked about the need for our students to work in larger groups, to strategize, and to have some fun. We developed a morning of challenges and games to take a break from the manual labor, and laugh together. The kids had a great time, and I believe it gave the camp leaders a chance to get to know our students a little better.

I do have to say I was quiet impressed with the team building that occurred during work. We worked together to make our wall building go faster, we talked to make the time pass, and we joked to make sure we were having fun while we did it. My favorite part was getting to know some students I hadn't worked with very much. It was great to see students go the extra mile and really care about improving this school....and even better to see them have fun while we did it. Building walls all week on a trip that was "a week without walls" was ironic, but I loved it! It was great to see what we could achieve together!

It is safe to say my favorite part of the trip was our hike together on the last day. A local performed a Pacha Mama ceremony and he talked about how everything is connected. We made a spiral shape of fruits we offered to Mother Earth, while examining the spiral our fingerprints make. He said, "What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves and what we do to each other, we do to ourselves." The message was a powerful one, and one that I really hope sticks with our students. We are one.