Volunteer in Ecuador: Community Development (Amazon)

Volunteer in Ecuador: Community Development (Amazon)

Volunteer in Ecuador this is a community located in eastern Ecuador in Napo province. The community is inhabited by 40 aboriginal families, each with an average of 8 members, with an approximate population of 350 inhabitants.

The population is engaged in agriculture especially seeding of coffee, cacao, banana, corn, cassava. The coffee and cocoa are traded in areas near the community, while cassava, green bananas and corn are for domestic consumption. The community has an ecological reserve of 1,300 hectares. They have electricity and piped water. Families are also working on making handicrafts using native materials in the region such as seeds, straw hat ribbon, string, etc.

EDUCATION PROGRAM

In the community there is a public school which receives up to 80 children from 5 to 13 years old. It is a school that has 4 classrooms and teachers have three levels from first to sixth grade. The school receives food rations to feed the children. The school has a school cafeteria, the same that was built with the help of volunteers. In addition to its recreational activities they have a soccer field and a volleyball court.

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

  • Teaching English, the work of the volunteers is to teach English.
  • Teaching Computers, the school has 7 computers; volunteers can teach the children how to use the computers.
  • School support, The school has one director and 3 teachers. One teacher is in charge of teaching 6 grades, therefore they need assistance to complete the academic program.
  • Educational programs. This is the reason why the presence of volunteers has been really valuable for reinforcing the knowledge in homework.

COMMUNITY WORK

To help with farm work, accompanied by each of the families that make up the community, participating in activities such as cleaning trails, nursery preparation, sowing, harvesting and construction. It is necessary to be open and be willing to participate in the activities that the community needs. In the community there is a cacao and wooden trees green house, also, the volunteers by sowing, harvesting and recollecting the fruits in the communitarian area.

NOTE: There can be unavoidable changes to projects caused by weather, conservation priorities, materials supply or ongoing projects that have progressed more quickly/slowly than originally planned. Please accept changes – we are sure that you will enjoy the replacement projects just as much!

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

  • Teaching English, the work of the volunteers is to teach English.
  • School support, The school has one director and 3 teachers. One teacher is in charge of teaching 6 grades, therefore they need assistance to complete the academic program.
  • Educational programs. This is the reason why the presence of volunteers has been really valuable to reinforce the knowledge.
  • Cultivate traditional crops and reforest as well.

Volunteers experience full cultural immersion by living within the community in traditional rustic cabins (for groups of volunteers), or they can live with a local host family (for individual volunteers). Volunteers will be staying in two shared cabins: one for 8 people, the other for 10 people. Cabins are traditionally built using local materials, i.e., wood, straw, cane-bamboo, etc. This is an extreme program, be physically and mentally prepared for hard conditions and weather.

Overview

  • Project length: From 2 weeks to 4 weeks
  • Project dates: March to December. Choose any date to arrive.
  • Arrival airport: Quito (UIO)
  • Accommodation: Local host family
  • Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
  • Language requirement: Good Spanish level (able to talk to locals just in Spanish)
  • Airlines: Lan Ecuador, American, United, Delta, Avianca, Taca
  • Vaccinations: Routine Vac, Hep-A and Typhoid wwwnc.cdc.gov

Program Schedule

  • Program starts and ends in Quito
  • Airport meet and greet in Quito.
  • Afternoon city tour and orientation
  • Bus ticket included to/from the Amazon community (6 hours form Quito)
  • Monday to Friday volunteering. 30-40 hours per week
  • Weekends free to sightseeing
  • Typical shift work hours are 8:15am – 16:30pm, program con be combined with other programs in the location.
  • Support: Local ABV Director support 24/7 during placement
  • Departure: ABV Staff Escorted Airport Transfer

Not included:

  • Flights to Quito. Entry Visa. Departure taxes. Vaccinations. Local Transportation. Travel & Health Insurance. Laundry and Internet
How may we help you?!

How may we help you?!

Our staff has extensive travel and volunteer abroad experience. We have the answers to all your questions about volunteering with ABV. We can customize any of our programs to your needs and dates.

Call/chat with our team members:

(1) 215 780 1845 [email protected]

Language Immersion:
No

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* Price in US dollars
Toll Free: US/CA (1) 866-423-3258