Best month ever!!!

I had so much fun and learned so much over my month spent in Ecuador! My trip was comprised of three components: medical rotations, volunteering and travel!

The medical rotations were very well organized and I learned so much. The tutors were so helpful and challenged students. We were able to shadow physicians and surgeons in a variety of specialties, exposing us to many different aspects of medicine. We also learned practical skills such as stitching, drawing blood and casting to name a few. I would completely

For the volunteering aspect of the trip, we helped in the construction of homes that we had fundraised to complete. This summer 20 homes will be built for the community members. The community was so welcoming and grateful, we worked alongside them at the construction site and their work ethic was truly inspiring. The work was physically tiring but knowing that we were improving the lives of so many made it easy!

For the travel portion, we traveled all over Ecuador to coastal cities and towns such as Mindo and Canoa as well as in the mountains to places such as Cotopaxi, for such a small country Ecuador has an incredibly varying landscape and we got to see it all. In each place we had activities planned, we were always doing something fun! We were able to hike through the Amazon rainforest, go waterfall repelling, horseback riding, surfing and see so many beautiful sights to name a few activities we participated in!

Help, Learn & Discover provides an incredibly unique opportunity, not many companies provide the perfect mix of learning, volunteering and adventuring like they do! I always felt safe and they take very good care of all the students that travel with them. 28 days with HLD was just not enough!