CILA

Over the course of our program in Ecuador, there are three included field visits. The first one was to Yasuní National Park, which is part of the Amazon Rainforest, about twelve hours from Quito. The second, which we just had this past week, was to Manabí, a coastal region about six hours away from Quito. Read More »

Each semester, one student from each HECUA program abroad takes on the role of student blogger, sending regular dispatches from the field. Emily Bruell will be HECUA’s student blogger for the Community Internships in Latin America program this fall semester. Emily is a junior at Carleton College, majoring in English Literature and minoring in Spanish. Click here […] Read More »

So I was interested in the bus-riders even before I met Miguel Acosta and his friends. And while I could try to describe the space they created — how the trolley fell silent when Erwin started to play the violin, how passengers were steadily drawn in when the others started to rap, marking the rhythm with heads or feet or fingers — I couldn’t capture it quite as much as this video. Read More »

Writing this in the back of the bus, as we wind our way through the mountains and back to Quito, I have mixed emotions. I’m angry at the corporate greed and consumer shortsightedness that threatens the mangroves, and worried about this ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. But I’m also so grateful... Read More »

In my home community, tail-wiggling is not a typical activity to partake in in front of a group of new acquaintances ranging from 6-77 years. It is, in fact, closer to a nightmare scenario. Read More »

First on the agenda was a “toxi-tour.” In the Amazon, there are valuable petroleum deposits. Specifically in Ecuador, these petroleum deposits give life to the economy. Here is the issue – the damage petroleum extraction does to flourishing environment is completely devastating. The struggle of finding a solution is even more devastating. What should a country like Ecuador do? A country that is economically funded by the market of petroleum, but also a country that contains the most biodiverse area in the entire planet. Read More »

A mini-reunion of Hecua Ecuador students– In St. Paul, MN! We were lucky enough to have three student bloggers from the Community Internships in Latin America program in Ecuador in Spring of 2017. This week, Maya Swope, a Macalester College student majoring in Environmental Studies and Geography returns to the blog for her post-program analysis. […] Read More »

Three short days ago I was sitting in a teal canoe surrounded by my classmates observing the tallest mangroves in the world. We were learning that the composition of these marine forests absorb 8 times more carbon dioxide than a comparable plot of your average land forest. Read More »

Speaking Spanish in literally all areas of life here on our trip has made for a combination of fulfilling, challenging, and stimulating feelings that ebb and flow with the pace of each social situation. Read More »