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.

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.