Ecuador Volunteer Programs

Business Development

Micro-enterprise Project

These projects consist of the preparation of different groups of people, with little or no economic resources, to help them create small one-person businesses. This activity allows them to obtain a small self-earned income to better provide for their families.

Volunteers will assist small enterprises to produce handicrafts or collaborate in administrative tasks. Travel to Teach provides micro-enterprise projects in the following areas:

• Processing recycled paper
• Creating ecological post cards with floral and Ecuadorian topics, taking advantage of the limited resources at hand
• Creation of ornamental candles
• Porcelain figures

Conservation

General Conservation In Ecuador
Work in the midst of the most spectacular Ecuadorian biodiversities where projects range from maintainance work to research. Your help is needed in the preservation, investigation, environmental education and management of Ecuadorian flora, fauna and landscapes.

Individual or group volunteers are welcomed to collaborate in private or public reserves in Mindo in the highlands or in national parks such us Machalilla National Park on the coast and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific.

Environmental Education
Travel to Teach promotes an environmental education program focused on meeting with mothers, children and the general public, holding workshops to compile information about local social and environmental problems and discussing how they could be realistically resolved.

Tree nurseries and Reforestation
This project involves the creation of a tree nursery and provision of training and reforestation services. Volunteers with a basic knowledge of trees and an interest in conservation or reforestation are needed to create tree nurseries, collecting tree seeds and planting seeds and caring for seedlings.

The objective of the reforestation is to connect forest reserves with nearby forest patches in order to expand the total area of habitat. Species whose fruits provide food for birds and mammals, as well as useful timber species that have been over-exploited in the reserves or parks are being planted.

Organic Farming and Compost
These projects are designed to help in preserving nature and the local ecosystem. The objective of the projects is the protection against soil erosion and nutrient loss. As a participant, you will work on the land, helping with the production of compost to use as organic fertilizer in the organic farms.

In short, all these programs are focused on protecting the ecosystems and biodiversity of Ecuadorian nature and volunteers can choose to take part in a range of projects depending upon their background, interests and experience. We ask you to work for 4 hours a day on the project of your choice, the rest of your time is free for teaching english, walking in the forest, birdwatching or simply relaxing.

Health and Medical

Health/Nursing Project
Our health/nursing programs welcome anyone thinking of taking up nursing or alternative health. By working on this program, you will make a real contribution in hospitals, clinics and NGO's. Travel to Teach channel professionals or students of medicine to work in centers of health. Volunteers will be involved in the day-to-day running of medical centres, observing or directly providing general assistance to the doctors and nurses, or possibly helping maintain the files, help at the reception desk or in the nursery or assist with patient check-ups, etc.

HIV/AIDS Project
Our program is designed to collaborate with and participate in health clinics, non-profit organizations or government agencies that deal with prevention and/or treatment of HIV/AIDS. As an intern, you can assist in developing sexual health education, promote prevention programs and training seminars for groups like lay health professionals and sex trade workers. You can also assist in the medical and psychological attention and antiretroviral therapy programs.

There are opportunities as well to provide comfort and support directly to patients and their families and the community. You can make visits to hospices and medical facilities, which really provide you with a sense of the personal side of this disease.

Social Work

Our social projects are dedicated to volunteering in institutions such as orphanages, nurseries, juvenile homes, and centers for child workers and the elderly. Depending on your skills and interests you can help with cooking, personal development, administrative tasks, teaching English, maths, music, or art, help with homework or sports activities, and the general care of children and the elderly.

Computer Teaching

Computer training program
Our computer training program in Ecuador is an innovative project where volunteers will find themselves helping to teach children and youths IT skills by collaborating with the Ecuadorian teachers of the different schools and high schools in Quito, Puerto Lopez and the Galapagos Islands. This part of Ecuadorian population is desperate to learn about computers, and acquiring some basic IT knowledge which will be very helpful to improve their lifestyle and future job prospects.

Volunteers are welcomed to help out in training children and young people in computer literacy projects from hardware and software basics and educational games, to Microsoft Office programs and Internet use. Children at poor schools with limited resources and few or no teachers can learn more if they can use computers. Apart from teaching computers, volunteers are invited to teach English and support in any way the IT classes

English Teaching

In Ecuador we teach elementary and school age children in both public and private schools. As a volunteer English teacher you will assist the established teacher in the classroom and sometimes lead the lessons and classroom yourself. Volunteers work together with the local teacher to help improve basic English skills, particularly conversational English.

Animal Care

Our volunteers work with the Fundación Protección Animal Ecuador an NGO which dedicates its efforts to eliminating animal cruelty and improving the treatment of animals. The principal objectives include educating people about repsonsible animal ownership, encouraging support for animal protection laws, and humanely controlling dog and cat populations witihn Quito.

A main part of the project and the one that volunteers are most heavilly involved in is the animal refuge run by the project. Volunteers will work to improve the lives of animals at the centre with the intention, where possible, of successfully re-introducing them to the wild. Volunteers help care for the animals on a day to day basis as well as cleaning and repairing cages and helping to improve facillities to create a more natural environment for the animals. Volunteers also help gather food from the forest for animals in captivity, introduce the food to the animals, monitor their progress, consult with the biologist, and under supervision of the biologist and centre staff, teach the animals how to eat and other behavior they need to know in the wild.

PAE is affiliated to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WASP).

Veterinary Care
Volunteers can combine an animal care placement with veterinary work in a zoo, animal rehabilitation centre or animal clinic. You may be able to spend some time concentrating on veterinary practice. Working as a veterinary volunteer you will be involved in vaccinations, operations, laboratory work, post-mortems, meat inspections and the routine treatment of domestic farm animals and pets.

Construction

Infrastructure and Construction Project
Many Ecuadorian families live in substandard, overcrowded and unhealthy conditions. With your help, more deserving families can have decent places to call home. Help repairing fences, roofs or cabins, assist and support in the construction of water pipes, houses, etc. Our objectives are to help Ecuadorian families benefit from the availability of existent housing programs.

Human Rights

Human Rights Project
Travel to Teach has humanitarian and social projects in collaboration with a large number of existing organizations to develop human rights projects which are both beneficial to the society and enjoyable to the volunteers. Our host human rights organizations seek to promote and protect collective and individual rights. The activities of the organization include: human rights education to youth and children and teachers in schools, women’s rights (emphasis on reproductive and domestic rights), education in rural areas, psychological attention in crisis, legal pursuit of human rights cases, foreign government abuse of local interests, and more.

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