Another Successful Study Abroad to the Coast of Ecuador

 Kristie Guffey was applying the dental sealant
on a young boy in the coastal village school.

 A group of students traveled to Ecuador during the winter session on an agricultural study abroad experience.  There were 18 students traveling along with Dr. David Coffey, Dr. Melissa Stewart, Kristie Guffey and a dentist from Winchester, Kentucky. 

The group left the winter cold of Kentucky for the warm, tropical conditions of the south.  They arrived in the capital of Ecuador and toured the museums, art, architecture, churches, and the culture of Quito.  The group met up with Dr. Rankin Skinner, a dentist from Winchester, in the city of Santo Domingo.  There the students and leaders of the group learned how to administer dental sealant on the teeth of children and adults.  Working with Dr. Skinner and Partners of the Americas, it is the combined goal to improve the overall health of teeth in the children of Ecuador.  The group went to two orphanages, two schools, and a small coastal village to apply the dental sealant and to give each one a toothbrush.  The service learning project was magnified by the overwhelming majority of students who are now donating money, time, and dental supplies to the next study abroad trip that will be leaving on March 2, 2011.

Agriculture freshman, Josh Dennis and Junior, Andrew Peden applying dental sealant. 

The group continued to travel from the magnificent mountains and volcanoes of the Andes to the tropical region and the Pacific coast of Ecuador.  They traveled to a bamboo farm, pineapple, cacao, beef cattle, palm oil, and hearts of palm, fishing villages, local markets, and witnessed a local group of indigenous people in their native culture.  The group wrapped up their experience by walking on the equator and conducting exciting scientific experiments that proved they were in the middle of the world.

 

The entire WKU agricultural group 14,000’ high in the Andes Mountains.

Pre-Pharmacy major, Lashelle Courtney wrapped up our trip with these words, “To see mountains that touch the clouds, to witness farms and plantations of bamboo, bananas and palm oil, to be indulged into lifestyles that are new and different from our own, to touch peoples´ lives and have them touch ours right back, the study abroad trip to Ecuador was the trip of a lifetime.”

 By:  Kristie B. Guffey