Taproot’s mission is to foster a generation of people who know, love, enjoy, and actively care for our earth and all of its citizens. After over 15 years of Taproot programs and countless experiences, we have learned to trust the power of Nature to help us actualize this mission.

The Ecuador Spring Break trip will be an inflection point in your young person’s life that will expose them to a new, very diverse environment, with almost constant outside time, lots of movement, new experiences, and scaffolded independence for growth. This trip will also provide them with a fresh perspective on their home, their country, and their lives. Our hope is that introducing this programming will help us accelerate our mission, as, more than ever, we feel it is critical to do what we can now and with future generations to create young adults and leaders who want to actively care for the earth and all its citizens.

Ecuador is one of the 17 megadiverse countries of the world, and the coastal region is a mix of beaches, bays and small islands where mangroves and jungles punctuate the coastline. In our visits there, we have experienced how this intense natural diversity, combined with lots of physical outside time triggers creative thinking and flow, connection, and general wellbeing. It also provides an amazing opportunity to witness the fragility of that diversity, and the things that threaten it–destructive land and fishing practices, the scourge of plastic trash, and the cycle of poverty and scarcity.

This two-week trip is full of engaging, diverse, mindful experiences that help students evolve their knowledge of and tools for: leadership, individuation, sustainability, good works, and personal growth. We feel it is extremely important both for the student experience and to be good stewards of this community that we give back to the people and land in meaningful ways. As such, 20% of Ecuador Spring Break Trip proceeds will go to supporting our Ayampe food program “Almuerza” (10%) and our “Raíz Principal” land protection and regeneration work (10%), including extensive tree planting to help offset the carbon emissions from our air travel.