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Benoit Dupras

Benoit Dupras is passionate about music, water sports and outdoors adventures. He is involved in environmental activism, local volunteering initiatives and community team sports. His goals for the year are to learn Spanish fluently to the same level of proficiency as English and French, to explore the natural wonders of Ecuador and to learn about the reality of local communities. My favorite quote comes from a song by Amber Run, an alternative rock band from the United Kingdom, and it says that "I don't wanna be the center of anything, just a part of something bigger". Whenever I hear it, I am reminded of being humble as well as reaching out to help others in need around me.

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Disconnecting in order to connect

Benoit Dupras

2017-03-22

Hey guys, it’s been a while   I haven’t written a blog in nearly three months, and I have some reasons to account for that: I was busy travelling around the country, I had a lot on my hands with my apprenticeship change (which ended up being a perpetual one), the holidays with my host...

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Education: Why it’s Failing the Children of my Home Community

Benoit Dupras

2016-11-18

Every day of the week I work at the local school, with kids from grades 2 to 7. You might think that teaching kids of that age group is somewhere between challenging and rewarding. But that couldn’t be further away from the truth, because it has been close to an impossible job. The kids just...

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The Fear of Voluntourism: Downsides of a Bridge Year

Benoit Dupras

2016-10-21

It’s been a month now since I’ve entered my new community, and I’ve had an amazing time with my host family, exploring el Valle del Chota, Ibarra and the surrounding sierra region. From bathing in el rio Chota with my host brothers and the watchful mountain peaks surrounding us to experiencing a mix of traditional...

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The start of a new chapter

Benoit Dupras

2016-09-21

For the past few weeks, I’ve been exploring the tourist side of Quito, of Ecuador; people do not expect me to be more than a gringo, a passing white visitor. My past blog posts (actually all of them), have strictly been about my personal experiences. However, Even if I don’t like being seen as a...

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Recap of a week in Quito

Benoit Dupras

2016-09-06

 My first week in the bustling city that is Quito just came to an end. It came by so fast, but then again time seemed to pass so slowly; so many things happened! From learning how to navigate a crazy bus system full of interesting adventures to exploring the historical center of the city que...

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When dreams meet reality

Benoit Dupras

2016-08-29

It’s been a week since I left Montreal for San Francisco, and these 7 days have been like heaven on Earth: I met a 120 amazing people from all around the world and experienced California like never before! For the first part of the week we stayed in the Redwoods, and the imposing silhouette of...

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Departing for an Ecuadorian journey

Benoit Dupras

2016-08-19

It’s two in the morning, I just finished repacking my luggage, and I still can’t sleep due to my imminent departure. I’m leaving to San Francisco in a couple of hours, but it’s also the beginning of a much more grandiose adventure and it has a name: Ecuador. For the next 9 months, I’ll be...

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