SIMS participants return from memorable summer trip to Ecuador
SIms (Students for International Mission Service) participants returned from Ecuador on July 30. This trip, comprised of 15 individuals from medical, dental, and public health fields, was instrumental in furthering the organization's mission of ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of others. The group spent time at four sites in Ecuador.
In the city of Guayaquil the group stayed in a town where the neighborhood was considered so rough, they were given police escorts for much of the time.
According to J. C. Belliard, MPH, director of SIms, that area is very primitive. There is "no running water, no latrines. We were there with many people to look after every day. It was very exhausting, very hot, and humid. We set up clinic in an empty building with dirt floors, but it was very satisfying and very rewarding."
The group was divided into three subgroups, according to specialty.
"Everyone helped each other out," says Mr. Belliard; "there wasn't just one thing going on while the people were waiting. We had health education going on. We had home visits with the health team, and we had all kinds of presentations on parenting, such as how to make soy milk (because soy is inexpensive). Everyone really enjoyed the diversity in the group."
One of the highlights of the trip was the time spent in the Galapagos Islands. The hospital there welcomed the SIms team members with open arms.
A rare asset to this particular trip was the fact that nine participants were fluent in Spanish. According to Mr. Belliard, those who originally didn't speak Spanish learned quite a bit, and there were enough people who did know it to help out. "That was considered a real blessing. God knew what He was doing or it would have been a lot harder."
Each day more people came to the sites for medical attention than could be seen in one day. "That was probably the most frustrating part--not going home thinking, 'I saw everybody today.' The people would come back the next day--and it would just build up day after day. It was hard to have to leave without seeing everybody," remembers Mr. Belliard.
Recent School of Dentistry dental hygiene graduate Lori Demaine says of the trip, "it was a great, great experience. I would do it all over again. It gave me a new perspective on life. I think everyone should go on a mission trip at least once."
"Traveling does that to you--you see other lifestyles, other customs, other ways of thinking," Mr. Belliard explains.
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