A central goal of Westmont’s Engineering Program is to use our technical skills to love people well. Three years ago, we formed a partnership with an Ecuadorian group called Academia Matices (AM). AM runs after school programs to train low resource Ecuadorian children in STEM subjects. This is done in coordination with a faith-based NGO called Compassion International. These Ecuadorian children would have virtually no opportunity to have significant STEM experience through their normal schooling. Westmont Engineering students design and build STEM educational training kits for AM to use.
In May of 2024 a group of 5 Westmont Engineering students along with Dr. Jensen, Rich Van Eaton, Elijah Cecilio, and David Cecilio (Westmont Engineering alumni and father) embarked on the Westmont Engineering program's third annual trip to Quito Ecuador to teach the Ecuadorian children using the STEM educational kits we had designed. The Ecuadorian children worked in small groups with two different educational kits across different days. The kits were designed to teach everything from math to robotics – and to be SUPER FUN!
The experience was awesome. One of the female Westmont Engineering students expressed “This was a trip that allowed me to look at little girls of similar ethnicity to me and realize they could also do what I do. I never had something like that growing up and being able to work with these students was very impactful. These students are so smart and just need the resources to create amazing things”. Another Westmont student commented “Seeing the kids completing the kits successfully and then playing and learning from them gave me a sense of overwhelming love and completion I will cherish forever. I have never cried from joy outside of a church setting before”.
It is such a privilege to get to be with the Ecuadorian kids. Every trip we learn new things about them, their culture and about ourselves as well. Another one of the Westmont students commented “It was a humbling experience and I really felt God teaching me about people that have different situations in life”.
While our 5 students were working with the Ecuadorian kids, David and Elijiah were busy helping a school called Alliance Academy International set up a robotics lab. The lab will be used by both the Academy and the AM program. It significantly enhances their capability to train students in STEM technology. What a blessing! They built multiple 3D printers and computers, supplied Arduino (microcontroller) kits, set up soldering stations and then trained both Academy and AM staff to use the facility.
After the hard work done by everyone, we were able to explore the beautiful city of Quito. We were able to see different views of Ecuador through a gondola ride to the top of a mountain (over 13,000 feet), an extinct volcano that a community has now inhabited, a coffee plantation where we saw how coffee was created, and a place called the “Center of the Earth” (because it’s on the equator) where we got to embrace Ecuadorian culture. One of the Westmont students said “The Ecuador trip was a highlight of my Junior year and the best trip out of the country I have ever been on.” We’re all very thankful for this opportunity! God willing, we’ll continue our partnership with AM and the Academy and see many additional chances to serve and learn from our Ecuadorian partners.
