Dana Scott / Winonan

Junior movement science student at Winona State University, Trevor Frosig, traveled to Tena, Ecuador to do medical missionary work over winter break.

Frosig is an aspiring pediatric physical therapist who has worked with children throughout high school.

“I knew I loved working with kids and wanted to go into the medical field, and the two go hand-in-hand,” Frosig said on choosing his major.

Frosig chose Winona State because of the scenery of the city, the layout of campus, and the size of the school, which he thought was not too big or too small.

After touring Winona State during the spring, Frosig recalls thinking of the area as “green, warm and beautiful.”

Frosig went to Ecuador with 25 other Winona State students, who all bonded quickly over similar interests and the willingness to sacrifice their time and money to help others.

“It was a group of genuinely nice people who where there for the right reason,” Frosig said. “It is surreal to see people from the trip on campus because we did this crazy thing together.”

Frosig and these students are members of the MedLife club on campus. MedLife club was created last year by a group of students who wanted medical experience through travel, and asked biology professor John Nosek to be the advisor of the club.

Frosig described Nosek and his wife Catherine as “lifesavers” on the trip because of their vast travel experiences in Peru and Tanzania.

One does not need to be going into the medical field to join this club; anyone on campus can join.

Frosig’s roommate from his freshman year went to Peru last year with the club, and Frosig saw his pictures and talked to him about it. He thought it sounded like a cool experience, so he went to a MedLife club meeting to find out more.

“I always wanted to go on a travel study and thought it would be cooler to volunteer abroad than get credits abroad,” Frosig said.

MedLife club meets weekly to plan where they want to go and who in the club wants to go. Once a location is picked they sign up through a company called MedLife, whose mission is to educate those in poverty about healthcare, provide healthcare to them and empower them to live healthier lives.

When they arrived in Tena, Ecuador, the 25 Winona State students became part of a larger group of 70 students doing work there though MedLife.

Frosig and the other students and advisors went to a different clinical site each day in a different community, eight in total, to work with medical professionals and patients. These clinical sites ranged from a basketball court to an old school.

At each site volunteers worked at stations ranging from registration, vital signs, education or with a doctor, dentist or obstetrician-gynecologist. There was also a pharmacy with over-the-counter medicine for patients.

The Winona State MedLife club raised $2,000 for medical supplies and medication to bring to Ecuador with them.

Frosig shared that his favorite non-tourist aspect about the trip was the day he got to shadow the doctor one-on-one.

“It was an experience I would not have gotten anywhere else,” Frosig said. “It made me realize how much Spanish I actually remember.”

Aside from volunteering at clinical sites, the volunteers worked on a project to build new bathrooms at a school in a rural community.

Frosig said his favorite tourist experience was on the very first day in Ecuador when they went white water

“It was an experience I would not have gotten anywhere else,” Frosig said. “It made me realize how much Spanish I actually remember.”

Aside from volunteering at clinical sites, the volunteers worked on a project to build new bathrooms at a school in a rural community.

Frosig said his favorite tourist experience was on the very first day in Ecuador when they went white water rafting for three hours, cutting though the country, the mountains and the jungle.

Frosig said his favorite tourist experience was on the first day in Ecuador when they went white water rafting for three hours, cutting though the country, the mountains and the jungle.

“It was such a cool way to get immersed in the country,” Frosig said. “It was a great way to start the trip.”

Frosig also shared how New Years Eve is celebrated in Ecuador. They had a bonfire at midnight and wrote down a wish for the new year, threw it in the fire and then had to jump over the fire to signify jumping into a new year.

One thing Frosig said that he will take away from this experience is how much those not living in poverty take for granted, and said he hopes to not take as much for granted anymore.

“The people we meet in that country were so happy all the time,” Frosig said. “It was great to see them so happy but also sad because they don’t know what they don’t have, like we are able to drink water and have a bathroom to use.”

Frosig shared that Ecuador offers free medical care for all citizens. However, most people do not have access to medical care. For example the nearest hospital to Tena is four hours away, and not everyone has a car or can afford transportation.

“It is difficult to see the poverty in the country because it is surrounded by so much beauty,” Frosig said. “That was something that took me by surprise, the beauty of the country, it was so full of life.”