Jessica Dunnin learanig Spanish and Medicine with Ecotrackers

I spent three weeks with Ecotrackers and during this time I had many fantastic experiences was able to see parts of Ecuador not usually accessible to tourists. I am a final year medical student from New Zealand and I wanted to spend part of my elective in a spanish speaking country, to learn some spanish at the same time as learning medicine. I discovered Ecotrackers via the internet and after reading a good review of it I decided to give them a try. The organisation was very prompt in replying to all of my emails and said they could arrange pretty much whatever I wanted to do. The Ecotrackers organisation was founded by a doctor, and I was able to work directly with him which was fantastic. The organistion is family run and very laid back about organisational details, which I found difficult initially, but in fact I had no problems at all once I relaxed into Ecuadorian time! They more than made up for this by welcoming me into the family, taking me to different places and helping me to organise other activities so that I could see all of Ecuador. Dr Max Moreno, the doctor I was working with, was incredbily generous with his time. Staying in their apartment during my time in Quito was an added convience offered by Ecotrackers.
During my time in Ecuador I was based in the small town of Guallupe in the northern Sierra. The hospital here was small, and had basic equipment required for the out-patient clinics and minor emergencies (anything major went to the town of Ibarra, about an hour away). I had the opportunity to attend all the emergencies if I chose to (faciliated by onsite accommodation) and also outpatient clinics during the day. I was able to take part as much as I felt confident to do so. I was also fortunate enough to be able to attend clinics with Dr Moreno in smaller communities on the periphery of Guallupe. One of these was a small Awa village, an hours walk into the rainforest, where we ran a medical and dental clinic for one day. This offered an amazing insight into a way of life not often seen by tourists, and further allowed me to see the range of pathologies prevalent in tropical areas.
During our holiday time Dr Moreno was kind enough to take me to Esmeraldas during their independence festival, a fantastic series of events with music, dancing, fireworks and parades. Again being with an Ecuadorian allowed me to gain access to activities that most tourists do not attend.
I also recieved Spanish lessons during my time in Ecuador, as I had no Spanish before I arrived. I would advise anyone hoping to work with people in these communities to learn Spanish before arriving, because although it is easy to pick up phrases to get around, it is difficult trying to forge friendships and deal with patients in a foreign language, and my lack of Spanish made me somewhat isolated and dependent on Dr Moreno as my interpreter. Our lessons were somewhat haphazard due to our medical schedule, so I did not learn as much as potenitally could have in the three weeks I was with Ecotrackers, so I would recommend if you want lessons, to stay in Quito and go to a dedicated language school for at least a week or two.
Overall I had many positive experiences during my time with Ecotrackers, I saw a lot of tropical medicine and was also exposed to many different ways of life. The family feel to Ecotrackers made it a great organisation to deal with, and they were extremely helpful and accommodating of my needs