Winters in Ecuador
Professor of Chemistry and Department Chair at Bethel University runs the chemistry study abroad trip after finding his love for the country during his own study abroad experience. Now, he fosters friendships with the indigenous communities and the students who are exploring a new country for the first time.
By Taylor Fruetel
Brandon Winters slipped out of his plane seat, his anticipation building since the second the wheels touched tarmac in Ecuador. The air outside the plane was far different from the Minnesotan January he left behind. It was humid, tropical.
The advisors corralled Winters and 40 of his fellow students onto the bus out of Quito. Winters peered out the window at the brightly colored houses surrounded by huge concrete walls with broken glass bottles stuck atop acting as barbed wire. Some houses the bottles matched the color of the house to add to the homes aesthetic, others were haphazardly placed and the tops broken off with a baseball bat as soon as the concrete dried them into place, so the jagged edges of the glass could slice anything trying to climb over the wall.
Winters first visited Ecuador during his fourth year of college at The University of Minnesota Twin Cities on a study abroad trip. Now, he is the advisor for the chemistry study abroad program at Bethel University, which visits Ecuador. This J-term will be his fifth time leading the trip.
“Brandon is one of the most well fit to lead the trip,” said Erin O’Neal, a student on the 2023 study abroad trip, “he has made so many connections with the communities and given the trip more opportunities.”
During the time abroad, Winters leads students to better understand the wildlife and culture of the country. Snorkeling with sharks in the Galapagos. Gazing up at the golden columns of La Compania. Hiking through the Amazon rainforest to meet native groups living in the Amazon to drink Chicha, a ceremonial drink made from mashed Yucca plants. The deep connections formed between the students and the communities they lived with learning hunting strategies, basket weaving and about their sustainable ways of life.
“To see how they have been able to use their materials to live,” O’Neal said. “And work to develop their community.”
Winters waited by O’Neal in the hospital after she drank contaminated water. Keeping spirits high by asking questions about how the trip was going and life in general. Winters reached out to all of his students and was not only their advisor but someone to talk to and lean on.
“[I] think there is something really beautiful about being stretched in that way to live in a different place.” –Brandon Winters, professor
While hiking 13 miles in the Galapagos Winters took the opportunity to walk amongst his students and converse with them one student asking “How did you know your wife was the right person?”
They spoke for hours, Winners offering his insight and own experience.
“That’s a big part of why I think God has called me to education,” Winters said. “He has given me a passion for exploring our calling.”
During the spring of 2018 before Winters accepted a job at Bethel University he moved with his wife and three children to Ecuador. Their stay lasted three months before he moved back to Minnesota. His role at Bethel provided him a chance to shape the Ecuador study abroad trip. Winters obsessed over the planning for the move covering his entire office door from floor to ceiling with maps of Quito, Ecuador. He spent free time on google maps walking the streets he once did his senior year of college to recall how to get from point A to B. During their time in Ecuador, the Winters family hiked through the fields of rural land outside of Quito observing livestock roam freely and upon entering Quito cows laid in the open grass areas of the clover leaves between highways.
“[I] think there is something really beautiful about being stretched in that way to live in a different place,” Winters said. “Having time to focus on family.”
